Award recipients

Ngā Manu Pīrere | Award to recognise emerging Māori artists

Cian Gardner – Ngāpuhi
Theatre: Writer, Producer, Performer

Is a founding member of Cove Theatre based in Hamilton. Cian recently completed a Bachelor of Teaching/Bachelor of Arts at Waikato University. She co-founded Cove Theatre in her last year of study at Waikato University and then their first production Rauru, which she co-wrote, performed and produced, went on to be programmed by both the Rotorua Fringe Festival and Kia Mau Festival.

Cian clearly centers kaupapa Māori behind the stories she develops and uses theatre to strengthen connections to her whakapapa and Mātauranga Māori. Cian has proven her bright future by securing further funding for the development and tour of works to Hamilton, Wellington and Auckland.

Ashley (Hine) Waitai-Dye – Ngāti Kuri
Tārai Waka, Tā Moko

Hine Waitai-Dye is of Ngāti Kuri descent. Hine is currently studying Waka building at the New Zealand Māori Institute of Arts and Crafts, and she wishes to continue this mahi as well as her work as a Tā Moko artist her upbringing in Te Taitokerau has informed her strong knowledge of Mātauranga Toi.

Hine has assisted with the building of waka for the Suquamish Nation and contributed to the construction of canoes in Hilo, Hawaii and the recent Rātā waka symposium in Whāngarei.  The judges noted that Hine is a strong role model for Māori women, unafraid to enter areas usually seen as the realm of men in tā moko, whakairo and canoe building; and when having acquired these skills and experiences continues to return home to her iwi of Ngāti Kuri, thereby demonstrating her commitment to te ‘hau kāinga’. 

Te Tohu Toi Kē a Te Waka Toi | Making a Difference

Nancy Brunning – Ngāti Raukawa/Tūhoe
Theatre: Actor, Writer, Director, Producer

Award winning actor, director, writer Nancy Brunning has been a major force in kaupapa Māori stories and an advocate for te reo Māori. She dedicated many years to supporting arts practitioners and was renowned for setting very high standards while coaching and as a Director for both for stage and film.

In 2014 Nancy was awarded a CNZ  internship to attend the indigenous writing programme at the Banff Centre in Canada. Her most recent work was Witi’s Wāhine which she wrote and directed. The play premiered to great acclaim at the inaugural Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival in October this year. Co-founder of Hāpai Productions with actor/director Tanea Heke, Nancy was also a valued arts assessor for CNZ. 

Nancy passed away peacefully on 16 November with her family beside her. Sadly Nancy’s passing came the day before she was publicly named as the recipient of the Bruce Mason Award 2019 by Playmarket.  Her Te Waka Toi Award will be received by her family.

Te Tohu aroha mō Ngoi Kumeroa Pewhairangi: “Whakarongo, Titiro, Kōrero” | Award for strengthening Te Reo Rangatira

Derek Lardelli – Ngāti Porou, Rongowhakaata, Ngāti Konohi (Ngai Te Riwai), Ngāti Kaipoho (Ngai Te Aweawe)
Te Reo, Whaikōrero, Visual Arts, Haka, Tā Moko, Composer

Painter, carver, traditional Māori performance artist, composer, graphic designer, researcher of whakapapa, oral histories and kaikōrero, renowned tā moko artist and a champion for te reo Māori .  Derek won NZ Arts Foundation Laureate award in 2004, was the inaugural Gallipoli artist-in-residence in 2006, and was awarded the honour of Officer of the NZ Order of Merit in 2008. Renowned for designing large scale art works on Hikurangi maunga to installing knowledge into NZ Olympians and the All Blacks. 

Te Tohu Whakamanawa o Te Matatini | Recognising outstanding contribution to Kapa Haka

Wetini Mitai-Ngatai – Te Arawa, Te Whakatohea
Kapa Haka

Traditional performance arts (kapa haka) traditional martial arts (mau rākau), business entrepreneur.  Having performed throughout Rotorua for many groups, Wetini and Irirangi Tiakiawa Tahuriorangi started the renowned performance group Te Mātārae I Ōrehu in 2002.  Wetini has been awarded the national male leader title at Te Matatini  a total of five times and in a very short timeframe, Te Mātārae I Ōrehu has won the national title two times.  In 2002 Wetini founded Mitai Maori Village in Rotorua, a Māori cultural performance and tourism attraction at Fairy Springs (Te Puna o Tūhoe), Rotorua. Through Mitai, Wetini wanted to provide employment for family and the wider community. As it nears 20 years of operation it  employs more than 100 people including thirteen full-time staff. 

Ngā Tohu ā Tā Kingi Ihaka | Sir Kingi Ihaka Awards recognising lifetime contribution

Maureen Robin Lander – Ngāpuhi
Multimedia artist, Installation, Rāranga and Academic

Of Ngāpuhi (Te Hikutu hapū) and Pākehā descent, Maureen has exhibited nationally and internationally, taught Māori fibre arts at Auckland University, written for various publications and in 2002 was awarded a Doctorate in Fine Arts from Auckland University – and an inaugural Māori Academic Excellence Award, Fine Arts, Music, and Performing Arts, Te Tohu Toi Ururangi, sponsored by Toi Māori.

Rim D Paul – Te Arawa
Music: Showbands, Choral

Rim D Paul is an important choral leader with a career that has brought high-quality Māori music to new domains.  Noted for connecting Māori Choral groups with choral groups from range of ethnicities around the country, Rim has also worked with Māori showbands the Māori Hi-Quins and the Quin-Tikis. Rim D Paul has distinguished Māori music ancestry –  his father Tai Paul, the musical arranger for the Howard Morrison Quartet and the Māori National Choir. In 1990 Rim formed the choir for New Zealand’s 1990 Sesquicentennial that performed at WOMAD 1992.  In 2013 at the age of 71, Rim D Paul produced his first solo album, Waiata, Wairua, Waiora

Sonia Armana Snowden – Ngāpuhi
Rāranga, Whatu, Tukutuku

A senior weaver in Aotearoa, respected within the ranks of equally accomplished senior weavers and part of Ngā Kahui Whiritoi, Sonia is widely admired for her fine weaving, especially her whāriki, kākahu, kete whaikairo, and tukutuku.

Sonia has also been a teacher of younger weavers and a long-time participant in Te Roopu Rāranga Whatu o Aotearoa (New Zealand National Māori Weavers’ Collective).  For many years, Sonia has been a tutor in weaving at Te Wānanga o Raukawa. 

Allen Wihongi – Ngāpuhi
Whakairo, Mixed-media

Born in Kawakawa and educated in Kaikohe and at Auckland University’s Elam School of Fine Arts Allen had an extensive 30-year career as a teacher that included positions as a senior lecturer in the School of Design at Wellington Polytechnic and the head of the School of Applied Arts at Northland Polytechnic.

Allen worked for 12 years for the Ngapuhi Runanga in Kaikohe and has been a Māori design consultant on a number of significant projects, including the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior at the National Memorial in Wellington and the New Zealand Memorial Anzac Parade in Canberra.  His design work and carvings have earned him respect in New Zealand and overseas.

John Klaricich – Ngāpuhi
Te Reo, Whaikōrero, Literature, photography

John Karicich has made a significant contribution in the retention and development of heritage, and oral arts pertaining to his people of Ngāpuhi.  John has firmly dedicated his efforts to the needs of his people of Ngāpuhi; His contributions and service to his people and community have been recognised by the Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit and Queen’s Service medals for service to community and Māori.

Te Tohu o Te Papa Tongarewa Rongomaraeroa | Outstanding contribution to Ngā Toi Māori

Kura Te Waru Rewiri – Ngāti Kahu, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kauwhata, Ngāti Rangi
Visual Arts, Academic, Educator

From school age Kura was taught by some of New Zealand’s most prominent artists, Selwyn Wilson and Buck Nin who encouraged her to study at Ilam School of Fine Arts in Christchurch where she graduated in 1973 with a Diploma in Fine Art (Honours)

In 1974 Kura completed study to be a secondary teacher at Christchurch Training College and has taught at a number of New Zealand institutions, including secondary schools, tertiary colleges, universities and Whare Wananga.

Kura’s paintings are held in prestigious collections such as Wellington’s Te Papa Museum, Auckland Art Gallery, Waikato Museum of Art & History, Dunedin Art Gallery, The University of Auckland and the National Art Gallery of Australia, Canberra.

Te Māori Manaaki Taonga Trust:

Te Māori Award: Recognising Leadership in the Development of the Te Māori Exhibition

Ihakara (Kara) Puketapu – Te Atiawa
Recognising the outstanding contribution by an individual to the success and legacy of Te Māori.

Kara was fundamental to the success of the Te Māori exhibition as Secretary for Māori Affairs, working under the auspices of the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council.  This watershed international exhibition of Māori art – Te Māori (1984 – 1987) made a significant impact on the value of Māori cultural heritage, arts and people in New Zealand.  This award is to restate the importance of Te Māori in the present and for future generations.  The inaugural award will be a wahaika named Te Wehenga, produced by Rangi Kipa and acquired by Te Māori Manaaki Taonga Trust in 2015 to mark the launch of the new Trust deed.

Manaaki Taonga Award – Recognising the work of a Māori Artist who fulfils the legacy of Te Māori ‘He Taonga Tuku Iho’

Lewis Gardiner – Te Arawa, Ngāti Awa, Whanau a Apanui, Ngāi Tahu 
Whakairo

Lewis Gardiner is regarded as one of the foremost Māori pounamu artists in the country. In 1994, he graduated in Māori Craft and Design at the Waiariki Institute of Technology here in Rotorua and during his final year he was introduced to the valuable medium of pounamu (jade).

In 1995, he became a full-time jade and bone carver specializing in traditional Māori imagery. For almost 25 years Lewis has run his own greenstone studio in Rotorua that is regarded as one of the foremost design studios in the country.  Lewis frequently exhibits internationally as part of residencies and artist exchanges.  

Te Tohu mō Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu | Exemplary/Supreme Award

Rex Homan – Te Rarawa, Ngāti Paoa, Te Atiawa
Sculptor

Rex Horman is a Coromandel-based artist and regarded as one of country’s finest wood-sculptors with a long career that found recognition in the 1960s and 1970s.  Rex describes his work as contemporary Polynesian, drawing heavily on nature and mythology.

He Tirohanga Ki Tai (A View from the Shoreline): Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery is an exhibition featuring both leading and emerging Māori artists, who have created a completely sovereign space, supported by Indigenous funds, to hold a conversation critiquing the Cook invasion, the ensuing colonial experience, up to and including the TUIA250 events.

This exhibition started at Tairāwhiti Museum, in Whataupoko, Tūranganui a Kiwa, not far from the actual site of invasion itself. It has subsequently toured to New York, where it was hosted by the ORA Gallery in Manhattan and accompanied with talks by First Nations scholars on the specific impacts of the Doctrine of Discovery and Indigenous women.

It is presented in the Calder & Lawson Gallery during the NAISA 2019 (Native American and Indigenous Studies) Conference hosted by the University of Waikato. This year is the first NAISA conference to be held outside of the US and Canada, and will be held at the University from 26 – 29 June.

“He Tirohanga ki Tai: Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery is an art exhibition and public forum that addresses the historical fallacy of the European ‘discovery’ of Aotearoa New Zealand. As the title suggests, he tirohanga ki tai (a view from the shore), the exhibition provides an indigenous perspective looking out from our place in the world.” – Reuben Friend, Director – Pataka Art + Museum, Porirua City

The exhibition features works by Robyn Kahukiwa, Rachael Rakena, Ngāhina Hohaia, Israel Tangaroa Birch, Tina Ngata, Tāwera Tahuri, Charlotte Graham, Numangatini MacKenzie, Kauri Hawkins, Derek Lardelli, John Moetara and Emily Kitson.

Curated by: Tina Ngata

We spent weeks looking for Maori made art products in shops in Auckland recently and it was frustrating. Either retailers don’t know who their Maori artists are or the products were not identified as Maori made. The same old problem of our traditional adornments, artworks, patterns being made and sold by non-Maori while our own Maori artists are invisible.

For that reason, we are printing more Toi Iho labels and brochures for artists and retailers. Contact me if you are ready to use them. Claim our indigenous culture! As a retailer, if you have artists who are producing high quality work, make an application with them for Toi Iho. It’s time to get moving again.

Hā: Lewis Tamihana Gardiner

22 June – 13 October 2019

Lewis Tamihana Gardiner (Te Arawa, Ngāti Awa, Whanau a Apanui, Ngāi Tahu) is a leading pounamu artist who is attracted to working with jade for its solidity, beauty and ancestral connection.

He is known for his unique design aesthetic, use of inlay and incorporating several varieties of jade in a single work to create depth and variety.

Hā: Lewis Tamihana Gardiner is one of three exhibitions, and an art education programme, that forms the Tauranga Art Gallery’s 2019 Matariki celebrations for Maori New Year.

The three exhibitions span the entire upper floor of the Gallery and include BLOOD WATER EARTH and Mātiro: A survey of photography by Kapua Joy Bennett.

Retailers are vitally important to identifying Maori artists work with the Toi Iho trademark.  The original motive for developing the Mark was to distinguish Maori products from others, particularly when traditional patterns are being copied by non-Maori artists.   Retailers are encouraged to step forward and identify Maori artists who are on the Toi Iho list (see toiiho.co.nz) and label their retail products.  If your artists create high quality works, encourage them to apply for assessment so that they can join Toi Iho ranks.   Having Toi Iho is an advantage for the buyer, the seller and the artist.  Toi Iho shows the very best of Maori art.

Retailers are vitally important in identifying Maori artists work with the Toi Iho trademark.  The original motive for developing the Mark was to distinguish Maori products from others, particularly when traditional designs and patterns are being copied by non-Maori artists.   Retailers are encouraged to step forward and identify Maori artists who are on the Toi Iho list (see toiiho.co.nz) and label their retail products.  If your Maori artists create high-quality works, encourage them to apply for Toi Iho assessment so that they can join Toi Iho ranks.   Having Toi Iho is an advantage for the buyer, the seller and the artist.  Toi Iho shows the very best of Maori art.

I have just finished a frustrating search for Maori made art work and there is no obvious way of telling the work of our indigenous artists. In discussion with retailers, some guessed that ‘they could be Maori’ but generally said there was no way of knowing. Six weeks later, I have found beautiful taonga in Hastings, online. We are keen to enlist the artist and have her name linked to Toi Iho. Come on Retailers, join up.

Three Toi Iho artists are showing their work in the Oceania exhibition in the Royal Academy, London this year.  They are Lisa Reihana, Michael Parekowhai and Fiona Partington. 

This is the first major Oceanic show to be held in the UK.  Oceania shows from 29 September to 10 December 2018.  

Soft Paradise / Ka Rongo Te Pō, Ka Rongo Te Ao: Works by Fiona Pardington at the Tauranga Art gallery.
29 September – 2 December 2018

After two years working in Dubai, Hiwirori Maynard (Rongowhakaata) is glad to be home. He was contracted to perform as part a four-person cultural group named Te Mana at the JW Marriott Hotel. He was well-trained for this having performed with Waihirere at Matatini (or the Aotearoa Maori Performing Arts Competition as it was then) alongside teaching in Gisborne. The Marriott has been home for Hiwirori a number of times over the years with different stints there in 2008, 2009-10, 2011-12 and most recently 2015-17 when he finished as Band Leader of Te Mana.

Hiwirori originally trained in the late 1990s at Toihoukura with Sandy Adsett, Derek Lardelli, and Steven Gibbs finishing with a Maunga Kura Toi Bachelor of Maori Art in 2004. Since then he has been working mostly as a kapa haka and art tutor in a range of schools including Te Aute College (2012-15) alongside maintaining a constant art practice, exhibiting across the country and working on commission, including Hakirirangi for Te Papa Tongarewa (2017) and MOKO Guitars (an example is below) for Hukarere Maori Girls College.

Those of us at Toi Iho look forward to seeing his new work.

                   

Te Kāhui a Mataariki Wātaka Exhibition Title: Puanga Kai Rau ‘The synergy of Puanga rising’

Venue: Māoriland Hub   Date: Rātū 10-17 o Hongonui Disciplines: Tuhi, whakairo, raranga, tāmoko, pūoro, toi kupu, toi matarau, pāhoa, whakarākai, waiata, reo, kiriata, pakiwaitara Kaupapa: Te Kāhui a Mataariki – ngā tuku o te whare tapere, a cluster of Māori artisans, artivists, advocates, educators, practitioners, whānau hapū iwi residing within the A.R.T. confederation in collaboration with Māoriland, Toi Tangata International Gallery and Te Ihiroa Designs.

A week of creative activities engaging and provoking innovative thinking through the many disciplines of toi tawhito and toi hou. Aim: To collaborate as a collective of high profiled, established and emerging artists Vision: To establish Te Kāhui a Mataariki as an annual event Goals: a) To increase the presence of high end traditional and contemporary Māori art made accessible to a wider audience b) Build engagement, membership and clientele (local, national and international)

Artists: Sonia Snowden, Elaine Bevan, Diane Prince, Lorna Tawhiti, Taryn Te Uira Beri, Jerome Kavanagh, Maakarita Paku, Karangawai Marsh, Navajo Hibbs, Paranihia Solomon, Kaia Hawkins, Johnny Hauraki, Te Aomarama Wilson, Debra Bustin, Pip Devonshire, Hayley Galo, Jamie Berry, Pikihuia Haenga & Leala Faleseuga, Iriaka & Romaine EpihaFerris, Awatea Crawford, Renee MacDonald, Leah Warbrick, Te Kahureremoa Taumata, Pania Barrett, Tihirua Putaka, Aria Parker, Sophia Parun, Students of TKKM o Te Rito.

Tuesday 17 th July 2018 11am Artists in residence – Johnny Hauraki, Leah Warbrick 4pm Exhibition Closes