Emily Karaka born 1952; lives and works in Tāmaki Makaurau with whakapapa to Ngāpuhi (Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Kahu o Torongare) Waikato-Tainui (Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, Te Kawerau ā Maki, Ngāti Tamaoho, Te Ākitai Waiohua, Ngāti Rori-Te Ahiwaru, Ngāti Tahinga, Ngati Mahuta)  Ngati Ruanui at Taranaki and Ngati Koata at Ragland

Emily Karaka is one of Aotearoa’s most highly respected artists. Her paintings draw on diverse art-making traditions, including toi whakairo and abstract expressionism. Characterised by dazzling colour and emotional intensity, they frequently incorporate text and tie into her longstanding work advocating kaitiakitanga, mana motuhake and rangatiratanga. Her paintings are held by major institutions, including Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, and the Sarjeant Gallery Te Whare o Rehua. She has represented Aotearoa in exhibitions internationally and at the Nirin Bienale, in Sydney and is to take up a residency at the Shajarh Art Foundation before a Selected Survey Exhibition of her Painting is to tour galleries and museums around the world and Aotearoa.

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