Copyright is owned by the Author of the thesis. Permission is given for a copy to be downloaded by an individual for the purpose of research and private study only. The thesis may not be reproduced elsewhere without the permission of the Author. A dissertation, presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Māori Visual Arts Wi Te Tau Pirika Taepa Te Arawa; Ngāti Whakaue, Te Roro o Te Rangi, Te Āti Awa 2018 at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand. 2 Abstract Apart from the occasional production of musical instruments like nose flutes, the making and firing of clay artworks is pretty well unknown in Māori arts and crafts traditions, though its emergence is connected with the prehistoric Lapita pottery tradition of SE Asia and passed through New Caledonia, Melanesia, Central and Eastern Pacific to reach Samoa and Tonga by approximately 1000 BC, where it then ceased. From service in Vietnam, working as a prison officer at Wellington’s Wi Tako prison, and becoming a self-taught carver, to employment as a social worker where I taught boys in reform institutions how to carve, I came to develop a specific interest in clay as an alternative to wood, as a medium. Clay offered me a welcome level of freedom compared with carving, and the speed of clay work allowed me to capture an idea while it was fresh. I like to make individual pieces using a low-tech approach – hand building and sawdust firing, using oxides and other clay slips, while incorporating Māori design elements. The innovations I make grow from knowledge of customary forms and designs and are often based on container and figure shapes while technically exploring patterns of notches and lines of early Polynesian and Māori art and recreating these in clay with both man-made and natural tools. There is also an evolving personal language that comes forth in the development of my practice. The evolution of my work with Hineukurangi and Mahuika; Clay and Fire, and an exploration of my major thematics; Te Putake, Kauhuri, Hononga, Raranga, Kaitiaki, Mahere, and Te Reo Karanga o Taranaki that capture my thinking, ingress an understanding of the whakapapa base of an abstract clay practice. The major exhibitions; Retrospect (2016) and Retrospective (2018) conceptually explore these major themes, surveying 30 years of my practice, within public spatial environments. 3 Acknowledgements Huakina e, huakina e Huakina te rangi e tū Huakina te papa e tākoto Huakina ko tēnei wānanga Me tāku karanga ki te ao He kai! He kai! He kai! He kai mo te hinengaro He kai mo te wairua Ko ngā kai o roto hei tauira Hei tauira mā wai? Hei tauira mā Tāne Mā Tāne te Pukenga Tāne te Wānanga Tāne te Whakaputa Te Whakaputa ki te Whai Ao Ki te Ao Mārama Uhi wero Tau mai te mauri Haumi e Hui e Taiki e Ko te mihi tuatahi, he mihi ki te wahi ngaro ki ngā atua, ki ngā mana kei tua o te pae o maumahara tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou. Me mihi hoki ki ngā mate, ki o tātou tipuna e moe mai ana i te pō. Kei te maumahara tonutia tō tātou rangatira, ōku matua, Laura Taepa kōrua ko Canon Hohepa Taepa kei tēnā, kei tēnā o tātou mate e huihui nei. No reira e ngā mate, huia katoatia, haere, haere, haere ki te pō! E ngā rangatira, e ngā tohunga o nga iwi taketake o te ao, tena koutou. Mauria mai o koutou mana, o koutou tikanga, o koutou whakapono ki waenganui i a tatou, hei maramatanga mo te ao. E ngā kaiwhakahaere o ngā whare toi o Aotearoa whānui, Pātaka Art + Museum kōrua ko Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Art Gallery, koutou hoki i tautoko mai i ahau, ka nui te mihi atu ki a koutou katoa. E ngā whare matauranga huri noa i te motu, Toi Māori kōrua ko Massey University, koutou hoki i whakaarahia mai ki ahau ki runga ki tēnā huarahi, tena hoki koutou. Let it be open, open The sky above The land below To begin this learning My cry to the world A feast, feast For the mind For the spirit These fruits an example of whom? of Tāne; Tāne the skilled Tāne the learning Tāne the progenitor To the flowing world To the world of light Let the energy be settled here To gather And be bound First I greet those beyond the physical. The supernatural ones beyond the realm of remembering. I greet also those who have recently passed. My parents Laura Taepa and Canon Hohepa Taepa. Let them and those who have passed recently be bound and journey together into the night. To the master artists from indigenous peoples around the world, greetings. Bring your prestige and practices and believes among us in this world of light. To the coordinators at the art galleries across Aotearoa New Zealand, specifically Pātaka Art + Museum and Toi o Tamaki Auckland Art Gallery, and all those that have supported me, I send grateful acknowledgements. To the schools of knowledge, Toi Māori and Massey University in particular, and all other institutions that have helped me along this journey, my sincere thanks and regards. 4 Table of Contents Part One: Introduction and Background 5 Part Two: Developing my Practice Model 17 Part Three: Retrospect 37 Part Four: Catalogue of Work 45 Plates Part Five: Appendix 56 Glossary, Biography, References 5 Wi Te Tau Pirika Taepa Te Arawa; Ngāti Whakaue, Te Roro o Te Rangi, Te Āti Awa Part One: Introduction and Background Aboard a humble corrugated-iron waka, made from discarded building supplies and sealed with sticky black bitumen scraped off the road on a hot summer’s day, a young Wi Taepa set out to test his boat-making skills upon the Waiwhetu stream. That morning, as the sun’s rays began to trickle down the cool jade surface of the stream, Taepa drew a deep breath and launched himself into the unknown. With a sigh of relief, he floated smoothly out into the gentle current, beginning his adventure downstream. Navigating the curves of the river, he and his comrades rallied friends, neighbours and cousins to the cause, collecting passengers as they journeyed along the day’s adventure. Sporting that signature cheeky grin from ear to ear – a smile he still happily wears to this very day – they voyaged beneath a canopy of Tui laden kowhai trees and kōrari stalks, rounding the bend to Te Whiti Park, emerging triumphantly at Te Aroha ki te Tangata marae. This voyage would be characteristic of Wi’s life, with each turn revealing a new adventure, rallying friends and colleagues, both Māori and non-Māori, along the journey. It would be fair to say that Wi possessed the ‘maui-complex’ from an early age. A true tutu- fingers. Someone with a keen eye and a penchant for doing things, just to see if he can. And often he could. Yet this spirit of adventure would prove to be both a blessing and a cross to bear, for a young man who would find himself using art as a means of dealing with adversity throughout his life. Excerpt from Wi Taepa Retrospect, Pataka Art Museum 2016. 6 “In te ao Māori (Māori world view) uku is more than an artistic material, it is a blood relative. Working with it requires an understanding of the genealogical links between humanity and Papatūānuku (mother Earth) … Negotiating this relationship is a defining feature of Māori ceramics … Throughout this whakapapa, relationships between people and the earth are constantly reinforced: clay gives birth to human life, from life comes death and from death comes renewed life … Using culture to reconcile one’s own mortality is something Taepa is acutely aware of …. Reuben Friend, September 2012 7 Wi Taepa (plate 31) Waiwhetu The decades following World War II were a time of rapid change. Waiwhetu, in Lower Hutt, was a hub of political and cultural activism that drew together Māori who came to be living in Wellington at the time. While the raids on Parihaka took place in the 1880s, the lands at Waiwhetu were largely used as market gardens by Chinese migrants, with very rudimentary housing facilities for the small Māori community who lived there. As Native Reserve lands, the government had been compelled by iwi leader Ihaia Puketapu and several prominent Māori politicians of the 1930s to develop this site into an urban settlement for descendants of Te Ati Awa.1 Many of Tohu and Te Whiti’s followers fleeing Parihaka settled at Waiwhetu and having learned their lessons under the heavy hand of the Crown in Taranaki, they carried with them the teachings and philosophies of non-violent resistance. Here there came to exist an environment of politically astuteness, optimism and determination that Māori could master the ways of the Pākehā, for themselves and for their future progenies. 2 1 Anon. 2010. A "glorious day" dawns at Waiwhetu, accessed 20th May 2018 http://www.atiawa.com/marae_history3.htm 2 2016 Wi Taepa Retrospective, Pataka Art Museum, Porirua, Wellington 8 Through links on my maternal side, my family came to be settled at Waiwhetu, and in 1946 I was born – the first of nine siblings to Laura (nee Black) and Canon Hohepa Taepa. My mother, Laura Taepa, was heavily involved with the establishment of the Ngāti Pōneke Young Māori Club and worked closely with Lady Miria Pomare to develop a place for young urban Māori to gather and enjoy the company of other Māori who had settled in the area from outside of the region.3 My father, Hohepa Taepa, was a Canon in the Anglican Church and he descended from a line of tohunga whakairo, master carvers from Ngāti Pikiao. He also held lineage to Ngāti Whakaue and Te Roro-o-te-rangi of Te Arawa. His brother, my uncle, Taunu Tai Taepa, carried on the Ngāti Whakaue tradition of whakairo and, with my father, he carved the pulpit of the historic Rangiatea Church in Otaki in 1950. The pulpit was distinctive for that period in that it introduced figurative Māori carvings into Christian architecture, with six Māori atua depicted holding the gospel of Jesus aloft.4 In the beginning my grounding in Māori art, culture, philosophy and politics grew from being surrounded by pioneering Māori leaders who were dynamic in their adaptation to the challenges posed by an increasingly Pākehā landscape. This resulted in a rapid shift, from planted cultivations around which cultural activity centred to becoming a fully urbanised consumerist community. I lived my youth through these changes and they were to have a profound impact on the way my art subsequently evolved. My sculptures and print works most often return to this trajectory of cultural change and childhood memories, as I seek to respond to moments in time and emotional turmoil through forms and images that epitomise the changes I witness and experience. One of the more consistent considerations to this was my concern with mound making referencing the customary practice of piling soil into mounds for the planting of kumara and other root vegetables. By pushing my fingers from the interior of a still-wet clay vessel, I created tuberous extrusions on the surface of my work which allowed the clay to bulk and crack like freshly turned soil. The progression into mass cultivation facilitated by industrialised tools such as farming ploughs and bulldozer blades are also reflected in my ceramic and stone sculpture work. Aside from the sculptural influences, the surface incisions and patterns on my clay works came to show influences of the environment I witnessed as stylised 3 Taepa, L., 2016. Laura Taepa interview for Wi Taepa exhibition [Interview] (7 June 2016). 4 Taepa, C. H., 1966. The Carved Pulpit. In: The Rangiatea Story. Wellington: Kerslake, Billens and Humphrey, p. 36. 9 representations of suburban development and imagined topographical cityscapes. In particular, Robert Ellis’s paintings of urban development was to have a profound impact on the way I approached surface imagery and composition on my clay vessels, much as he was to influence other Māori artists such as the painter Buck Nin. Wi Taepa (plate 11) Rangiātea When I was young my father’s work as a pastor took us to live in Otaki and later Whanganui. At Otaki State Primary School I had been winning cooking and art competitions and the move to Whanganui Intermediate saw me gravitate still towards the Arts. It became very clear by the time I completed Intermediate that I had a penchant for Art so in 1959 my father sent me to be with my Uncle Winiata Smiler in Naenae where I took train and tram to Wellington Technical College to be schooled by specialist art teachers who taught both at Wellington Polytechnic and the College. A day consisted of 5 periods of art across a broad range of media which I readily immersed myself in however, a love of sculpture was soon clearly evident. 10 Wi Taepa (plate 30) In 1961 I moved back to Whanganui by my family where I attended Wanganui Technical College, with the expectation that I would undertake an entire curriculum that I was unfamiliar with. I only got to study art for one period per week under Ted Lewis, who did a lot of painting and sculpture himself, however he quickly recognising that I had had more exposure to art than other students and he ensured that I had the opportunity to participate in additional projects. These included designing the New Zealand Photographic Societies lapel logo as well as marae projects and private commissions. I left after three years to return to the excitement of Wellington city where I secured work as a retail merchandiser at DIC Department Store on Lambton Quay performing the duties of a window display artist. Here I evolved my aesthetic design sensibilities and through the nature of the job, learned to be resourceful. Window and shop display often required developing innovative solutions to negotiate size, space, materials, colour and scale, skills that proved to be the foundation of my creating sculptural objects for spaces. 11 After five years in this position, a pub bet that I wouldn’t get accepted for the army due to my need for glasses, resulted in me becoming an official enlistee, of the New Zealand army in 1968. I fought the American War in Vietnam from 1970 to 1972 with First Royal New Zealand Infantry, serving with Whiskey Three and with Victor Five Companies and our platoon was placed on the front lines where we searched out military encampments ahead of the US troops who were notoriously loud and constantly quarrelled amongst themselves over racial issues. I have disturbing memories of days spent drenched in ‘agent orange’ and other horrors that occurred during that period, however the intermittent moments of beauty and introspection often revealed sublime truths. For me however, the atrocities of war will never go away, they are embedded in my psyche, the upside being the amity shared with colleagues, the locals and the natural environment - all which endure. Wi Taepa (plate 24) The lessons and experiences in Southeast Asia influenced me intangibly as well as cemented my concern for the human condition. These understandings also grew my awareness of differing cultural paradigms and heightened my lifelong affinity to diverse global cultural practices - almost a decade later, my directions in clay lead to the pursuit of international experiences and an understanding of diverse philosophies surrounding the clay and human experience. 12 Wi Tako My memory of post-Vietnam and returning home to Aotearoa, middle of the night landing at Whenuapai, of being given money and issued future reporting orders, to proceed a period of leave. I was posted to Trentham Military Camp in Upper Hutt where I worked in an office that looked after the rifle ranges. Later I was posted to Fort Dorset in Seatoun, Wellington as a Security Guard and then moved into RNZASC (Royal New Zealand Army Service Corp) as a driver. Around 1978 I discharged myself from service and secured a position working for the Justice Department as a Prison Officer at Wi Tako Prison (now Rimutaka Prison), where I found that my knowledge and experiences of art and tikanga Māori were to naturally amalgam put to practical use in providing grounding and direction for prison inmates. Many of the experiences and comradery shared in the army I saw replicated amongst the largely Māori prison staff as well as inmates and I undertook projects that sought to reconnect them with traditional Māori values while engendering a sense of community akin to the marae. “Clay is mud with more togetherness. I can bugger the vision, reconstitute the mud and start again.”5 Pou, (detail of top). Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington 5 http://www.spiritwrestler.com/catalog/index.php?artists_id=39 13 Initially working in wood, bone, leather and copper, my students carved two six-metre pou for the Michael Fowler Centre under the direction of retired parliamentarian Jock McKewen, a Scottish writer, composer and carver who was passionate about Māori development and served as kaumātua of the prison. In retirement, Jock McKewen, masterminded the carvings for Kahukura, the meeting house at Orongomai Marae at Upper Hutt. He also led carving projects for houses at Rotorua, Pirinoa, Taita, Naenae and Upper Hutt colleges, as well as Waiouru military camp. At his insistence, the carvings were created away from the prison at a whare whakairo in the hills above Petone. Prisoners were escorted to this site daily to develop skills and cultural knowledge which Jock McKewen knew and saw would be beneficial to their rehabilitation, and in 1976 we helped complete the carvings at Orongomai meeting house in Upper Hutt. The inmates experienced a sense of modern community away from the prison confines which fostered a context for which carving could be practiced. Poupou, Kahukura carved meeting house, 1989, Totara, Orongomai Marae, Upper Hutt. 14 Inside view, Kahukura carved meeting house, 1989 Totara, Orongomai Marae, Upper Hutt. In 1985, I left prison service to become a senior social worker at Kohitere Boys Farm Levin where I expanded the use of art as rehabilitation working with at-risk-youth and it was during this period that I first began to work with clay. Unlike the students I worked with at Wi Tako, many of whom were good people who had made bad life choices, the young boys I worked with at the troubled Kohitere Boy’s Training Institute faced additional challenges that were beyond their control. Carving tools posed potential physical risk and besides the cost of wood was prohibitive. Meanwhile the boys had relatively short attention spans so clay provided a therapeutic medium that could be recycled and reused and enabled ready and satisfactory completion of an art project.6 ” In those days they were like junior patch members, but when they came together, and I had them in the classroom all that seemed to go out the door. They would concentrate on the piece of clay in front of them. You can work so quickly with clay, build something or break it down and build it again … make it into a piece of sculpture. At the end of the day you had something that was finished in front of you” 6 Huhana Smith (ed) 2007, Taiawhio II: Contemporary Māori Artists in Conversation, Te Papa Press, Wellington. p 246 15 Considering clay as an alternative medium took its cue from an exhibition experience I encountered with the pottery of Englishwoman Jo Munro at Willeston Galleries, Wellington two decades before, as I realised that I had found the perfect alternative medium to wood, for the inmates to utilise. “I found clay was the answer” “it can be easily manipulated into different forms, altered, taken away of built up. I was also introduced to low-tech firing of clay which intrigues me to this day”7 (Uku Rere 2013:27 Wi Taepa (plate 3) I noted the way she had fired her pots producing greys, browns and purples which suggested to me the landscape of Porirua in early stages of its development, diggers cutting through clay beds revealing browns and greys strata. During this period, I attended the Levin Pottery Club’s introduction-to-clay night classes taught by Rosalie Blake librarian at the Levin library. Teaching the boys and attending the classes, I kept enough ahead for the following week. As time moved on I started hand building because the boys had no patience with the wheel. I learned how to make boxes and moulds so that I could just lay a slab of clay into the mould and work from there. It was a natural progression to grow my own production of pinch pot and slab work.8 7 Mark Hutchins (Curator) 2013 Uku Rere: Ngā Kaihanga Uku & beyond, Pataka Art Museum, Porirua. 8 Huhana Smith (ed) 2007, Taiawhio II: Contemporary Māori Artists in Conversation, Te Papa Press, Wellington. p 247 16 The closure of Kohitere in 1988 meant redundancy and after coming across some prospectuses on polytechnics I became inspired to further formalise my art practice. In 1989 I enrolled in a Certificate of Craft Design at Whitireia Polytechnic in Porirua, a four-year period of self-focused learning which resulted in unprecedented creative output for me. I started at the second year level due to my prior experience but at times I wondered if it was a mistake to start there as I missed out on some of the foundational aspects and theory. During my time at Whitireia I met Owen Mapp who was teaching there and through him I met Robyn Stewart, a potter from Auckland, who had been in contact with Manos Nathan and other clay workers from Northland so I went up north and did a few courses with her. I also enrolled in summer school classes she was teaching at Wanganui Polytechnic where I met George Kojis, an American who had an extensive knowledge of clay and the different methods of use across cultures – he was so widely read and he had worked with indigenous groups all over, especially East Coast Māori. So I started learning and thinking about the way I was working with clay as I moved around a range of practitioners and since my hand-building technique was well developed, I was looking for ways to find inspiration in my practice. Wi Taepa (plate 12) My journey into teaching and simultaneously undertaking formal training towards an art qualification myself, was to be the beginning of an inseparable relationship for me. To be an artist in a customary Māori sense is to be responsible for communicating matauranga; spiritual, cultural and genealogical or knowledge to the community. 17 Part Two: Developing my Practice Model Ko te whakapapa o Hineukurangi Te Ara – The Encyclopaedia of New Zealand Auckland War Museum, 2001, p 15. The whakapapa (genealogy) of clay in Māori cosmology lists the descendants of Tāne (god of the forest) and Hine-tū-pari-maunga (goddess of the mountains and cliffs). It shows the close relationships between stone, water and soil. The value of stone to humans is also shown with the inclusion of Rātā, the first person to use an adze to cut down a tree.9 The offspring of Parawhenua-mea (water) was Rakahore, who represents rock, and who took as his wife Hine-uku-rangi the Clay Maid, and produced the personified forms of stones, such as Hine-tuakirikiri (Gravel Maid), and Hine-tuahoanga (Sandstone Maid), Hine-tauira (a form of flint), and many others.10 Furthermore, clay is invested with the power 9 https://teara.govt.nz/en/document/8877/whakapapa-of-rocks-and-stones 10 Art. I.—The Māori Genius for Personification; with Illustrations of Māori Mentality. By Elsdon Best, F.N.Z.Inst., from Volume 53, 1921 18 to create life within as related in many Māori origin stories, for example Peketua, the originator of lizards, molded some clay into the form of an egg, and took it to Tane, who said, "Me whakaira tangata" (Give it life). Furthermore, the female principle, the Earth Mother, and of clay itself is validated in the origin of Māori people themselves. The sons of Ranginui debated as to how the ira tangata (human life) could be produced in distinction to the ira atua (supernatural life). After creating a number of trees and numerous insects and bird life Tane and his brothers decided that a search should be made through nature for the female element or uha, from which man could be produced. They decided to mould a female after their own form out of the red earth at Kurawaka on the puke (mons Veneris) of the Earth- mother. is that the first human was a female whose body was moulded out of earth by the god Tane.11 The primeval origin stories have commonalities throughout Polynesia, the connection of which became important to my personal practice. Different visual systems of the Pacific Islands pertaining to clay and other art forms such as siapo - barkcloth (Plate 1) provided me with inspiration, in this example slips, porcelain and terra sigillata have been used to achieve a tapa effect. Wi Taepa (plate 1) Within Māori oral narratives the union of Parawhenuamea and Pūtoto produces numerous children, including the many varieties of rock and stone and Hineukurangi, their daughter, who is known as the origin of clay. In this narrative Hineukurangi also includes fired clay made solid in a rock-like state and as such implies the process of firing clay. 12 11 Te Rangi Hiroa The Coming of the Māori, Māori Purposes Fund board, Wellington, 1949, p.450 12 Borell, Nigel, 2018, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki and Pātaka Art + Museum 19 Te Putake The way I experienced childhood and early adult life, engendered the physical and emotional allure of sculpting ‘mother earth’ powering a heightened awareness and consideration of the ever-changing physical landscape that is Papatūānuku, while allowing me to make peace with the world. Through clay I could consider the imposing forces of change, deliberate on my and Māori relationship to these changes, and negotiate a comfortable space within these new realities. My relationship with clay has endured because of its continued deep relevance to me and the reverence I have for it as a medium. I believe it has the ability through Papatūānuku, to culturally ground our people, throughout creative challenges posed by both the medium, and the actuality of societal evolution. Wi Taepa (plate 7) From the outset my attraction was the integrity of having a physical and spiritual relationship to whatever media I could grasp hold of, but also engaging my body physically and emotionally in a transformative process and thereby fueling my mind. With my early clay workings, I engaged a lot of burnishing (see plate 7) which was labour intensive, but I enjoyed the process and the smooth, gloss-like surface texture that resulted. The haehae and pakati, chisel surface patterning of whakairo I also explored as a means of translating ideas I was familiar with from carving. I was also influenced of course by New Zealand ceramicists working at the time particularly Robin Stewart, Jo Munro, Paul Winspear and James Grieg. Wi Taepa: Retrospective at Auckland Art Gallery, 28 April–2 September 2018. p7 20 As my confidence with clay increased I decided to put the potter’s wheel aside and the concern with the burnished surface result. I became inspired instead by the sculptural practice I was most familiar with, whakairo (carving) and began to transpose elements from this practice into clay. Through freeform hand built sculptural techniques, using a combination of coiling, pinching and slab techniques, the organic nature of the process became more alluring to me. Wi Taepa (plate 4) The inherently imperfect and misshapen creations, my own manipulation and mishandlings and the range of firing methods, all result in irregularities in the works that for me were ‘honest’, true to both the natural texture of the material and the process of working by hand - values similar to the consideration of wood as a carver. This piece Nuku Puta (plate 4) references the struggle of the children of Rangi and Papa, to separate them from their embrace – like the energy of a fetus bulging forth from the swelled pregnant belly. There is no question that I consider this constitutes more of a Māori approach to sculpture and materials which has philosophical implications beyond the physical making process itself. As I increasingly came to consider the deep layering of significance and the place of uku, clay, in Māori cosmology, my relationship with clay cements it as my primary art practice. My homage to the primacy of form over surface patterning in early pre-contact carvings was evident in my hand-built clay works of this period. I also utilised the simpler whakairo forms of the manaia (plate 24) and tiki (plate 20) which for me spiritually grounded the works in Papatūānuku, and the other atua or deities created through the union of Rangi and Papa. 21 Wi Taepa (plate 24) and (plate 20) Coming from the body of Papatūānuku, the primordial ancestor from whom we as Māori believe that all life has been created, uku not only proffered me the technical challenges but it became a more sacred undertaking for me, reconnecting me to Te Ao Māori. The receptacles or vessels, called waka or ipu, that I create, therefore become carriers of life and protectors of those things that are precious to us as Māori. This concept allows me to focus on my personal art and cultural expression in the medium. Kauhuri The first major series of works in which I was cognisent of the depth of connection that clay as a medium afforded me, to ancestral belief and practice, led me to tap into early memories of urban change and development. I created clay works during this period in response to the urban development that I recall witnessing as a child as Waiwhetu rapidly felt the pressure of urbanisation as well as other urban Māori kāinga, from communities centered around planted cultivations to fully urbanised consumerist communities. Kauhuri or mound-making – a practice that would not be considered desirable in traditional ceramics, the physicality and repetitive nature of pushing my fingers from the interior of a still-wet clay vessel to produce extrusions on the surface of the form, drew me as a technical approach. This method allowed for bulking and cracking of the clay, much like freshly tilled soil, and felt likened to the turning of the soil in which to plant kūmara and other root vegetables. 22 Wi Taepa (plate 11) and (plate 30) The forms I created during this period focused on vessels for storing kai (food), such as hue (gourds) and kete (woven bags) as in plate 11. Later I was drawn again to this thematic through an exploration of the industrial forms used in food cultivation, such as mechanised ploughs and bulldozer blades which became juxtaposed onto the earthlier organic forms. (see plate 30) During this time, I also came to be inspired by the paintings of Robert Ellis whose work seemed to capture the sense of calamity, the pace and scale of urban development that was occurring at the time. My response to Ellis’s paintings led to an increased focus on mark- making on the surface of the clay, etched out of the form, much as steel chisels facilitated increased detail of surface patterning on whakairo, I became interested in Māori symbiology to suit the narratives I was increasingly exploring. Surface features also became a natural progression from my mastery of the coiling and pinching techniques to accomplish a range of forms, as well as my preference for open firing techniques. My interest in stylised representations of suburban maps and imagined topographical cityscapes grew from Ellis’s influence which I articulated through by carving textural surfaces into the clay. Using the language of kōwhaiwhai and carving these became highly developed in the series of work I was to develop further for the series of works, Kaitiakitanga and Mahere. 23 Hononga In 1987 the Ngā Kaihanga Uku National Collective of Māori Clay Workers was formed from our increased interactions and awareness of shared concern as Māori artists as to the Māori philosophical underpinning of our works which often subconsciously, was at the core of all of our clay practices. Together with Manos Nathan, Baye Riddell, Paerau Corneal and Colleen Waata Urlich we founded Ngā Kaihanga Uku to support each other’s work and practice through research and wānanga or joint endeavours. We became known as Tokorima—the five fingers of Māori ceramic art practice and this solidarity helped us articulate the Māori substructures to our individual practices. Lapita pottery discoveries around that time had revealed a much longer history of indigenous ceramic practice throughout Oceania than many Māori artists and academics had previously realised, and much of the investigations undertaken by Ngā Kaihanga Uku focused on the ancestral connections between Māori and the ancestral art practices of South-East Asia. Fragments of a Large Lapita Jar, c. 1200–1100 BCE13 The Lapita are ancestors of modern Polynesians, who later went on to explore all corners of the Polynesian triangle, from Hawaii to Easter Island and ultimately New Zealand. But 3000 years ago, it was Lapita seafarers who heralded the last major prehistoric wave of migration by sailing to Vanuatu and from there out into an area known as Remote Oceania. By 13 Geoff Irwin, 'Pacific migrations', Te Ara - The Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, accessed 2018 24 comparing the skull shape of the Lapita people scientists have determined that from the populations today the Lapita fit most closely ancestrally with the Polynesian/Asian peoples. 14 In my Hononga Connections series I explore these links through incised pattern-making on vessel surfaces, drawing links between customary Māori mark making and imagery and similar markings found throughout Melanesia and West Polynesia. The hybridised navigational imagery employed by indigenous cultures across the Pacific particularly on the Lapita pottery becomes merged with military wayfinding maps that we used during our Vietnam campaign. For me they connect the migration of Māori ancestors across Asia, Pacific and to Aotearoa New Zealand, as well as my own journey as a soldier and my own experience of making these ancestral connections. The surface marks (plate 6) I have made with a dress making roller to mimic those pertaining to the Pacific region. Using the Lapita derived marks and leather tools I also applied marks that explored the mapping of the Pacific region (plate 26). Wi Taepa (plate 6) and (plate 26) My Hononga works paid homage to the vibrant philosophical discussions we shared as Tokorima and the way we were exploring the source of Māori ancestral practices that linked us to the clay traditions of our ancestral neighbours from Asia and the Pacific. 14 Geoff Irwin, 'Pacific migrations', Te Ara - the Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/pacific-migrations (accessed 17 May 2018) 25 Ko te whakapapa o Mahuika My surface treatment of the clay is also intimately related to my preferred firing techniques because, rather than rely on colourful glazes, I am interested in bringing out the natural features of our customary interactions with the environment and therefore I hand-build and leave them unglazed and sawdust fire, using oxides and other clay slips. I like to work very fast to capture the spontaneity of my first thoughts. I recognize that clay is not a medium which can be wholly controlled. I like to let the colours from the earth emerge during firing as they do in nature – not just the red, white and black associated with Māori art, but a broad color spectrum that includes maroons, the silvers and greys of trees as well as the colors of animals, sea and plant life. Low technology pit firing process 26 I am drawn to the interactions with Mahuika, Goddess of Fire, in working with low tech firing methods. My works could be fired simply in a hole filled with sawdust, which is lit and burns slowly overnight. Sometimes they are fired in gas or wood kilns, but I enjoy the unpredictable way the colours of the clay emerge naturally during firing, including the subtle range of browns, silvers, and greys that particularly appear from wood firing. The origins of Mahuika were record in personal notes by, the now deceased, Manos Nathan;15 "Ka kahu a Mahuika ki roto i a Kaikomako raua ko Tōtara." Mahuika is defeated in this battle and is compelled to conceal the remnants of her fire in the Kaikomako tree. In some versions of the tale she hides in Hinahina, Māhoe, Patate and Totara. The ancient origins of ahi tapu – the sacred fire; ahi tawhito – the ancient and original fire, and ahi kōmau – the Subterranean fire or Volcanic fire, rests with Ranginui the sky father. Ranginui wore the sacred fire-making implements of kaurima – rubbing stick, and kaunoti – grooved stick board hanging around his neck. The sons of Rangi and Papa removed these tools of fire before the separation of the primal parents, this is attributed sometimes to Tane or Tūmatauenga or Paia. The hollow in the breastbone Awanga-O-Te-Poho, is a reminder that the tools of fire lay on the chest of Ranginui. While Tane, responsible for the separation, uses the fire tools named Torotoro-Ihi and Te Rangi-Tiramarama to create our sun - Rā – the ultimate origin of fire. The sparks which fell while Tāne was working become the hidden (subterranean) fire that burned in stone, wood and in the earth – the ahi-kōmau which after the separation of Rangi and Papa agree to give to their youngest brother Ruaumoko (God of Earthquakes) to keep him warm at his mother, Papatūānuku’s when, upon separation, she was turned over (Hurihanga-A-Mataaho). At Kurawaka Tane forms the first woman from earth, Hineahuone and together they produced the dawn maid - Hinetītama who mates with Tāne to produce Hinetapeka and Mahuika. Hinetitama after discovering her relationship to Tane leaves him and retires to Rarohenga where she becomes Hine-Nui-Te-Pō. Rā because of his love for his human descendants bestows the gift of fire upon them. He instructs his son Auahituroa or otherwise Upokoroa to descend to earth to marry Mahuika. Through the pursuits of Māui, Mahuika is compelled to hide the remnants of the fire of her fingernails, in the Kaikomako tree. 15 Manos Nathan 2013, personal communication and research, Ngā Kaihanga Uku 27 Raranga Part of my inspiration in early Māori carving, was a technique of punching small marks in formations to create surface decoration (see Plate 19) as well as techniques of inlaying other materials such as flax or bone. I looked at the way curvilinear lines in carving were created without stone chisels and figured what contemporary man-made items could constitute tools. I replicated punch markings with an egg slice or a ballpoint pen and rolled slips as if onto fabric. These marks also appear in the Lapita pottery traditions of Samoa which allowed me to explore deeper whakapapa connections between Māori and Lapita traditions. Wi Taepa (plate 19) and (plate 2) The cross-hatching technique that I have described as raranga in the Raranga – Cross Hatching series, has become a surface feature of my technique. It takes its name both from the appearance of the directional effect of weaving with harakeke – flax, and also from the technique of scraping the epidermis from flax to expose the fibre, which was used extensively in the creation of Māori garments including the prestigious cloaks which became the emphasis of another series of works. It is a technique that I further explored in my bronze cast pieces (see plate 23 and 22) which serves to interrupt the solidity and coldness of the bronze medium. Where I am happy for the form to speak without the deeper carved surface treatment such as Mahere – Mapping series, this has become a favourite technique. It also reminds me of the raw material before the carving process especially our oldest found carvings which had rudimentary surface patterns but exceptional sculptural form. 28 Kaitiaki When I graduated from Whitireia in 1992 and was offered a fulltime teaching position specialising in clay sculpture, by the Supervisor Anne Philbin, I taught at both Whitireia and Whanganui Polytechnic part-time. In Whanganui, I developed a strong relationship with Whanganui-based US ceramic artist George Kojis who was to become an invaluable influence on my art practice. Kojis was also a Vietnam war veteran and a student of renowned US porcelain artist Rudolf Staffel. He also held great admiration for indigenous modes of art practice and he introduced me to an impressive collection of international ceramicists, including Sudanese potter Siddig el’Nigoumi, Kenyan ceramicist Magdalene Anyango Namakhiya Odundo and English sculptor Peter Beard. I got to workshop with several of these artists in England at the behest of Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council Craft Advisor Edith Ryan. Ryan also encouraged me to expand my artistic horizons abroad and over the next ten years while working closely with Ngā Kaihanga Uku and Toi Māori Aotearoa I exhibited extensively nationally and internationally and took part in exchanges - including a three-month residency at Glenn Green Gallery in Santa Fe in 1994 where I cast the bronze series of works Kaitiaki at the Shidoni Foundry. Wi Taepa (plate 23) and (plate 22) In 1999 I completed a bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts from Whanganui School of Design. Overseas exhibitions during this period included NZ Choice in Santa Ana, United States in 1994; Harare at the Zimbabwe National Art Gallery in 1995; Haka which toured through the United Kingdom in 1998; and Kiwa at Spirit Wrestler Gallery in Vancouver, Canada in 2003. 29 Wi Taepa (plate 13) and (plate 14) 30 The kaitiaki series created in 2003 for Kiwa at Spirit Wrestler in Vancouver Canada (plates 13 and 14) are the sculptural form of spirit figures that serve as boundary pegs or pou whenua which could be groups of stones or carved pieces of wood. My interest in creating minimalist, faceless works in clay that evoked these markers as well as others that served protective function like god-sticks was about the spiritual guardians of clay, of Māori and our people themselves guarding our treasured art form of clay. These stylised figures departed from the more easily recognized figures based on whakairo, where here the stance or shape of the head gives viewers clues yet allows them to tell their own stories in the surface texture and features. Kaitiaki acknowledges all the guardians of Māori art, particularly Ngā Kaihanga Uku members and this intensive period making connections with First Nation artists was instrumental to how we, as Ngā Kaihanga Uku, committed to the education process and connecting younger Māori artists with our ancestral practices around uku or clay. Ko oku ringa nei He ringa rehe mou No runga, No raro Ko oku ringa nei He ringa kaurima, kaunoti I te ahi tawhito I te rangi i Tiramarama I te one i Kurawaka He ringa toi I te whiri tapu I te whakairo tapu Ko te aho tapu He tangaengae kite ao wairua Ko oku ringa nei He ringa uku, He ringa whatu He ringa toi Ko oku ringa nei composed by Tamahau Hemara for Ngā Kaihanga Uku “These hands, your accomplished hands, descendant from above, from below. These hands used to fashion the tools of fire, the ancient and original fire, to spark and alight the sacred clay of Kurawaka. These artful hands of the sacred braid, of the sacred carvings. It is the sacred thread that is the umbilical cord to the spirit world. These hands, hands of clay, hands of thread, hands of fine art. These hands”. 31 Mahere Motorways by Robert Ellis, 1969, Oil on board , 120 x 105 cm In the Mahere Mapping series there was an emphasis on incised raised lines inspired by Robert Ellis’ Motorways paintings (plate 17) with their interest in aerial photography, meandering highways, road markings, and city maps.16 The concentration on almost entire surface embellishment that is rich in allusion and cultural / historic references. The uniform execution of pattern-making draws further reference to the furrowed earth (of the Hononga series) and the nature of ordered crop lines organized between kōwhaiwhai (rafter painted design) inspired shapes. Kōwhaiwhai also extensively constitutes the language of ta moko, tattooing practices of Māori and by applying my own interpretation of these languages on the body of my clay works I was both alluding to the potent protective nature of these forms when worn on the person and referencing the history of our clashes over the whenua (land) itself. The vessels I create hold great power when we see them as our ancestors themselves, created from the earth mother and therefore become revered as such, elevated from the mundane of functional objects. 16 John Hurrell, 4 June, 2018 The Clay Artistry of Wi Taepa, http://eyecontactsite.com/2018/06/the-clay-artistry-of-wi-taepa, accessed 10 June 2018 32 Wi Taepa (plate 17) and (plate 38) I began to expand reference to carved figures which I also explored in printmaking with faces and body forms featuring my own kōwhaiwhai language. The resulting language also contrasts to my more conventional explorations into kōwhaiwhai and moko (tattoo) such as in plate 29, and became my own kōwhaiwhai/whakairo language, my own signature in my works. Wi Taepa (plate 29) 33 Te Reo Karanga o Taranaki I suffered a few serious health issues and had major surgery in 2012 but my recovery included creating a series of work for a major solo exhibition City Gallery Wellington 23 June–5 August 2012. I chose to reflect, for the first time on some of the darker moments from my service time in Vietnam as I confronted my own mortality and the things that were major life influences. The contrast between the philosophies of non-violent resistance at Parihaka, to which I have whānau ties and my childhood experiences at Waiwhetu stand in contrast to the disruptive forces of war. Visually, I concentrated on a white slip finish which was applied liberally across all of the works which referenced South- East Asia but also the power of white as a colour beyond the veil. Wi Taepa (plate 33) This solo show also gave me pause to reflect on the spatial arrangement or installation potentialities of the art objects within the gallery space as a vehicle for exploring Māori narratives, creating meaning and the experiential. I intentionally created a life journey with the layout of the exhibition, starting with a small waka-pito which is a repository vessel for the umbilical-cord of a newly born child. The works gradually increase in size, with the largest piece featuring a stylised Māori Pātaka, a storehouse representing the fullness of life at its prime. They are united by the white slip and become almost other-worldly bodies or atua, yet each object has a personality that reveals different aspects of my technical approach to clay. 34 Wi Taepa City Gallery Wellington 23 June–5 August 2012 35 In 2013 select works from this series were shown in Te Reo Karanga o Taranaki: The Call of Taranaki: 16 August – 17 November 2013 exhibition at Puke Ariki Museum in New Plymouth. This exhibition featured twenty- five contemporary Māori artists with ties to the various iwi and hapū from Taranaki. The works for this show featured a strong Taranaki carving style—something which I also not explored in great detail previously. The exhibition was a bit of a homecoming for me whereas previously I had explored the Ngāti Whakaue carving style influences from my father’s side, now I began exploring exploration of my mother’s Te Ati Awa of Taranaki whakapapa. Wi Taepa (plate 34) In the same year the first major Ngā Kaihanga Uku survey exhibition Uku Rere: Ngā Kaihanga Uku and beyond: 14 July- 27 October 2013 with my colleagues Baye Riddell, Manos Nathan, Colleen Waata-Urlich and Paerau Corneal, was opened at Pātaka Art Museum in Porirua and toured for two years around New Zealand public galleries and museums. 36 Part Three: Retrospect Retrospect: 9 October 2016 to 12 February 2017, Pātaka Art + Museum “Taepa's works are big and brave, and in days where now often technology has threatened and refined our contemporary palette, these are made by hands with grit and mess and are all the freer and fresher”.17 Fran Dibble The loss of Manos Nathan and Colleen Urlich who passed away in 2015, was a big one for me and Retrospect: 9 October 2016 to 12 February 2017 was as much a celebration of my close friends and people who have been a formidable part of my journey, as it was the largest survey exhibition of my work to date. It was also ominous to be showing at Pātaka again, without Tokorima – the five fingers - since Uku Rere: Ngā Kaihanga Uku and beyond, my last show together with them opened at Pātaka. Curated by Reuben Friend, the Gallery Director, Retrospect provided a survey of 30 years of my clay practice and included a publication of the same title and while they were absent, all ‘five fingers’, were very much present. During this time, I was also teaching clay at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa campus in Porirua. Exhibition Publication cover, 2016 17 Fran Dibble, November 11 2016, A Visit to Pātaka, https://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu- standard/lifestyle/86206873/a-visit-to-pataka, accessed 10 June 2018 37 Retrospect. Opening at Pātaka 2016 The catalogue for Retrospect was organised historically and then thematically, while the works themselves existed as two distinct groups on plinths in the middle of the space. This was a fairly simple arrangement which allowed the objects to be perused from all sides and simultaneously be appreciated as a comprehensive historical body of work in which the viewer could make their own visual connections. 38 Wi Taepa: Retrospective at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki 28 April–2 September 2018. Unfortunately I was unable to attend the opening of my subsequent Retrospective showing at Auckland Art Gallery, apparently the first show to feature ceramics at the venue, due to being in hospital. “It is not a big show, but nevertheless, it has great impact, being full of witty surprises, possibly being seen as a drawing exhibition as much as a demonstration of clay work that espouses religious ideas. Absolutely essential viewing” 18. Exhibition Publication cover, 2018 “This exhibition celebrates the life and work of senior Māori clay artist Wi Taepa as it looks back at over 30 years of his art practice. It presents key works from Taepa’s career, sharing the breadth and diversity of his thinking and making. Taepa’s remarkable pieces speak strongly to the development of contemporary Māori clay work and illustrate the freedom, artistic expression and innovation for which he has become renowned”19. 18 John Hurrell, 4 June, 2018 The Clay Artistry of Wi Taepa, http://eyecontactsite.com/2018/06/the-clay-artistry-of-wi-taepa, accessed 10 June 2018 19 https://www.aucklandartgallery.com/whats-on/exhibition/wi-taepa-retrospective 39 This exhibition was a partnership project with Pātaka where the main thematic, created for the first showing, have been maintained. These are; Te Putaki – mound-making, turning the soil to plant kūmara and other root vegetables. Kauhuri – my memories of Māori relationship to the land and cultivating of food sources Te Te Hononga - my early works making connections to the Lapita pottery tradition; Te Reo Karanga o Taranaki – my whakapapa connection to Taranaki, and Ngā Kaihanga Uku - the distinctive nature of a Māori clay tradition and practice as opposed to a 'ceramics' tradition as told in the mainstream craft/object telling. Wi Taepa’s body of work offers a distinct expression that articulates a Māori understanding of clay practice informed by the artist’s connection to both Māori genealogy and material innovation. The exhibition includes key works from across Taepa’s career, sharing the breadth and diversity of his thinking and making. The Gallery is honoured to present an exhibition and a publication that speak so strongly to the development of contemporary Māori clay work and which celebrate the freedom of artistic expression that is evident in Taepa’s remarkable practice. Rhana Devenport, Director, Auckland Art Gallery - Toi o Tāmaki Punga, anchor stone, present at previous exhibitions, took central place at Retrospective 20 20 Carly Thomas, December 26 2015, A retrospective look at art, https://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/lifestyle/75402293/a-retrospective-look-at-art, accessed 10 June 2018 40 Head Curator Māori Art, Nigel Borrell designed the layout of the exhibition clustered around the main themes discussed in Part Two, across three gallery spaces; Auburn Centre, Auburn D and Tower Galleries. The emphasis has been on giving the works adequate breathing space allowing appreciation of each individual objects’ sculptural qualities. The elevation of the works to eye-level command a more detailed viewing and this gives a totally differently experience. The central placement on a lower plinth of the stone punga - anchor stone, serves to do just that, anchor my exhibition in relation to everything that has preceded it in terms of my practice; Māori cosmogony and ancestral practices. Māori understanding of the Uku tradition means that the words uku and/or clay have also been privileged over ceramics/pottery as terms to describe and locate Māori knowledge and art-making tradition. The coming together of the main elements of my clay practice in Retrospective, provides ways in which the audience might access the dimensions of knowledge and practice around uku Māori, and the importance that collective influences and dedication, such as that of Ngā Kaihanga Uku, have had in securing a future for this art form. Auckland Art Gallery 2018 41 Installation view of Retrospective, Auckland Art Gallery 42 Installation view of Retrospective, Auckland Art Gallery 43 Installation view of Retrospective, Auckland Art Gallery 44 Installation view of Retrospective, Auckland Art Gallery 45 Part Four: Catalogue of Work Plate 1 Wi Taepa Untitled Ipu circa 1990 from Hononga Connection red raku clay and white porcelain with terra sigillata and manganese oxide 300 x 300 mm Collection of the artist Plate 2 Wi Taepa Untitled Ipu circa 1990 from Raranga Cross Hatching red raku clay 380 x 240 mm Collection of the artist Plate 3 Wi Taepa Koi Awa 1994 from Kauhuri Cultivation anagama-fired red raku clay 170 x 270 mm Collection of The Dowse Art Museum Plate 4 Wi Taepa Nuku Puta 1994 from Kauhuri Cultivation anagama-fired red raku clay 320 x 280 mm Collection of The Dowse Art Museum 46 Plate 5 Wi Taepa Untitled Ipu circa 1995 from Hononga Connections anagama-fired red raku clay and oxides 300 x 280 mm Collection Pātaka Art + Museum Plate 6 Wi Taepa Long-net Fishing circa 1995 from Hononga Connections anagama-fired stoneware clay 440 x 350 mm Collection Pātaka Art + Museum Plate 7 Wi Taepa Untitled Ipu circa 1995 from Hononga Connections stoneware clay and glaze 310 x 450 mm Collection of George Kojis Plate 8 Wi Taepa Untitled Ipu 1995 from Hononga Connections red raku clay with terra sigillata and manganese oxide 140 x 130 mm Collection of Darcy Nicholas 47 Plate 9 Untitled Ipu circa 2011 red raku clay with terra sigillata and manganese oxide 130 x 100 mm Collection of the artist Plate 10 Wi Taepa Untitled Ipu circa 2011 from Mahere Mapping red raku clay with terra sigillata and manganese oxide 100 x 100 mm Collection of Darcy Nicholas Plate 10 (continued) Wi Taepa Untitled Hue 1995 from Mahere Mapping stoneware clay with terra sigillata and manganese oxide 200 x 170 mm Collection of Darcy Nicholas Wi Taepa Untitled Ipu 2011 from Mahere Mapping red raku clay with terra sigillata and manganese oxide 150 x 100 mm Collection of Darcy Nicholas 48 Plate 11 Wi Taepa Mourning circa 1997 from Kauhuri Cultivation anagama-fired red raku clay with harakeke cord and bone amulet 330 x 300 mm Collection of Garry Nicholas Plate 12 Wi Taepa Whale Migration circa 1998 from Hononga Connections stoneware clay 750 x 800 mm Collection of Pātaka Art + Museum Gift of the Deane Endowment Trust Plate 13 Wi Taepa Ipu Kowhaiwhai 2003 from Kaitiaki - Guardians red raku clay with terra sigillata and manganese oxide 760 x 165 mm Private Collection Canada Plate 14 Wi Taepa Ipu whakapapa 2003 from Kaitiaki Guardians white raku clay 825 x 180 mm Private Collection Canada 49 Plate 15 Wi Taepa Ipu Ma 2003 from Kaitiaki Guardians red raku clay with terra sigillata and manganese oxide, white slip 965 x 230 mm Private Collection Canada Plate 16 Wi Taepa Kia Kotahi mai kit e ao nei from Kaitiaki – Guardians 2003 red raku clay with terra sigillata and manganese oxide, white slip 480 x 125 mm x 3 (approx.) Private Collection Canada Plate 17 Wi Taepa Untitled Ipu 2000 from Mahere Mapping red raku clay with terra sigillata and manganese oxide 420 x 360 mm Collection Pātaka Art + Museum Plate 18 Wi Taepa Untitled 2002 from Mahere Mapping white raku clay 750 x 330 mm Collection of the artist 50 Plate 19 Wi Taepa Untitled (Punch Patterns) 2002 from Raranga Cross Hatching white raku clay 940 x 140 mm Collection of the artist Plate 20 Wi Taepa Waka 2004 from Raranga Cross Hatching red raku clay 310 x 530 mm Collection Sir Roderick & Gillian, Lady Deane Plate 21 Wi Taepa Kaitiaki 2004 from Raranga Cross Hatching bronze 740 x 440 mm Collection of Errol Clark Plate 22 Wi Taepa Kaitiaki 2004 from Raranga Cross Hatching bronze 760 x 240 mm Collection Sir Roderick a Gillian, Lady Deane 51 Plate 23 Wi Taepa Kaitiaki 2004 from Raranga Cross Hatching bronze 740 x 430 mm Collection of Errol Clark Plate 24 Wi Taepa Parautanga Plough 2005 from Kauhuri Cultivation anagama-fired red raku clay with terra sigillata 1390 x 450 mm Collection of the artist Courtesy of Sonya Rimene Plate 25 Wi Taepa Untitled Ipu 2007 from Hononga Connections red raku, manganese oxide, terra sigillata 140 x 110 mm Private collection, Auckland Plate 26 Wi Taepa Untitled Ipu circa 2011 from Hononga Connections stoneware with terra sigillata 150 x 140 mm Collection of Darcy Nicholas 52 Plate 27 Wi Taepa Untitled Ipu circa 2011 from Mahere Mapping red raku clay with terra sigillata and manganese oxide 290 x 190 mm Collection of Darcy Nicholas Plate 28 Wi Taepa Untitled Ipu 2011 from Mahere Mapping red raku clay with terra sigillata and manganese oxide 150 x 100 mm Collection of Darcy Nicholas Plate 29 Wi Taepa Ipu Moko circa 2011 red raku clay with terra sigillata and manganese oxide 330 x 350 mm Collection Pātaka Art + Museum Plate 30 Wi Taepa Parautanga Plough 2012 from Kauhuri Cultivation anagama-fired red raku clay with two-tone automotive paint 610 x 270 mm Collection of the artist 53 Plate 31 Wi Taepa Waka Huia 2012 from Te Reo Karanga o Taranaki. The Call of Taranaki red raku clay with terra sigillata and manganese oxide 130 x 470 mm Collection of the artist Plate 32 Wi Taepa Rere ahua 2012 from Raranga Cross Hatching anagama-fired red raku with two-tone automotive paint 300 x 270 mm Collection of the artist Plate 33 Wi Taepa Pātaka 2012 from Te Reo Karanga o Taranaki. The Call of Taranaki red raku clay with terra sigillata and manganese oxide 300 x 300 mm Collection Pātaka Art + Museum 54 Plate 34 Wi Taepa Untitled Tahā 2012 from Te Reo Karanga o Taranaki. The Call of Taranaki red raku clay with terra sigillata and manganese oxide 208 x 200 mm Collection Puke Ariki Museum Plate 35 Wi Taepa Koekoea 2012 from Te Reo Karanga o Taranaki. The Call of Taranaki red raku clay with terra sigillata and manganese oxide 130 x 450 mm Collection Puke Ariki Museum Plate 36 Wi Taepa Te Awa 2012 from Te Reo Karanga o Taranaki. The Call of Taranaki red raku clay with terra sigillata and manganese oxide 110 x 460 mm Collection Puke Ariki Museum 55 Plate 37 Wi Taepa Ipu whenua 1997 red raku clay with terra sigillata and manganese oxide with flax muka tassles 180 x 100 mm Collection of Te Papa – National Museum Plate 38 Wi Taepa drawing 2005 ink pens 400 x 500 mm Collection of the artist 56 Part Five: Appendix Glossary Ahi Tapu – The sacred fire Ahi Tawhito – The ancient and original fire Ahi Komau – Subterranean fire or Volcanic fire, the komau traditionally made from the Kaikomako tree Anagama – A Japanese term for a type of wood fired kiln. Hononga – Connections. Hurihanga-A-Mataaho – Turning over of Papatuanuku upon separation Ihi – power, essential force Ipu – A small vessel. Iwi – Indigenous New Zealand Māori nation. Kauhuri – To turn soil in a garden. Komau – to cover fire, as with ashes, to keep embers alive. Kurawaka – name of the place in the creation narratives where the first woman was created. Parihaka – Parihaka was the site of an industrious Māori community in Southern Taranaki led by Te Whiti o Rongomai and Tohu Kakahi which was illegally invaded and destroyed by government forces in the 1880s. Mana whenua – Power associated with possession and occupation of iwi land and waterways. Marae – The common contemporary use of this term often refers to a Māori meeting house and the surrounding lands and facilities. Maui-complex – Māori colloquialism for someone who demonstrates the character traits of Maui, a legendary figure renown throughout the Pacific for his mischievous yet industrious feats. Ngāti Whakaue – A Māori iwi from the central north island who trace their lineage to the Te Arawa waka. Parautanga – To plough a garden. Pātaka – a storage-house. Pōneke – A Māori transliteration of Port Nicholson. Used today in reference to central Wellington. 57 Pūtake – Foundation. Rere – Flow. Tiramarama – torch, torchlight, to look for or with. Tira – rays, beams of light Torotoro – to put forth the hands, stretch, extend, blaze, burn. Uku – Clay. Awanga-O-Te-Poho – the hollow in the breastbone to remind us that the fire tools lay on Rangi's chest (around his neck). Te Arawa – One of the principal migratory waka that is credited with bringing the iwi of the central north island to Aotearoa New Zealand. Te Aroha ki te Tangata marae – The name of a Māori marae in Lower Hutt, Wellington that translates as The Love to the People. Te Ati Awa – Sometimes referred to as Ngāti Awa in various historic records, Te Ati Awa is a Māori iwi who hold mana whenua status in the northern area of Taranaki and central Wellington. Te Roro-o-te-rangi – One of the principal hapu (nation groups) of Ngāti Whakaue. Te Whiti Park – A park in Lower Hutt, Wellington named fter Te Whiti o Rongomai, a late nineteenth century leader of the Taranaki villagemof Parihaka who alongside Tohu Kakahi is credited with the establishment of the non-violent resistance movement. Rangiatea – The original Rangiatea church was established by Te Rauparaha, a leader of the Ngāti Toa Rangatira iwi in Otaki in 1847. Tohunga whakairo – Master carver. Tutu fingers – Māori colloquialism for someone who is prone to tinkering or playing with objects to understand how they work. Waiwhetu – A river in Lower Hutt, Wellington that derives its name from its ability to reflect the stars at night. Waka – Canoe, boat or ship. 58 Biography Wi Taepa has since the mid 1980’s been associated with the development of the Māori Ceramic movement in Aotearoa, New Zealand. He is one of the co-founders of Ngā Kaihanga Uku – Māori Clayworkers organisation. Wi’s work with clay emerged from a background in wood carving and sculpture. He draws on a rich heritage of the customary art forms and on the Māori cosmological and creation narratives. This is evident in the forms and imagery of his clay sculptural works and vessels. As a founding member of Toi Māori he has been active in the promotion of Contemporary Māori Art for many years. Wi Taepa's interest in clay was sparked by an exhibition of pottery by Jo Munro at the Willeston Gallery, Wellington, which he would recall years later when he was looking for an alternative to wood as a medium of expression. 'I found clay was the answer. I can manipulate the clay into different forms, alter it, take it away or put it back. I was also introduced to low- tech firing of clay which still intrigues me to this day.’ Wi was also fascinated by Māori customary use of clay, these include traditional burials where clay was used cleanse the bones of the dead, and also to tantalise.. Wi Taepa was born in Wellington in 1946. He belongs to Te-Roro-o-Te-Rangi, Te Arawa and Te Atiawa. His father, Hohepa, was a Church of England minister and the family lived in Wellington, Ōtaki and Whanganui, where Taepa studied at Whanganui Technical College. He comes from a line of Te Arawa master carvers and with his uncle, Taunu Tai Taepa carved the pulpit in Rangiātea Church, Ōtaki. He also carved a replica of St. Faith’s Church, Rotorua, and many where tūpuna around New Zealand. When he left school, Taepa spent five years working as a window display artist in the Wellington department store DIC. There was a limited budget, so he had to use his ingenuity to find creative solutions, and this proved to be valuable training for his later art work. 59 In 1968 Wi Taepa joined the New Zealand Army and served in Vietnam from 1970 to 1972. The time he spent in Southeast Asia also exposed him to new cultures, influences and means of artistic expression. Taepa spent a number of years as a prison officer at Wi Tako (now Rimutaka) Prison and used art to open the lines of communication with the prisoners. He taught Māori wood and bone carving, as well as leather and copper work. Among his achievements at this time was participation in the carving of two pou for the Michael Fowler Centre in Wellington, and helping to complete the Orongomai meeting house in Upper Hutt. When Taepa became a social worker at Kohitere Boys Farm in 1985, art was an important part of his work in rehabilitating the boys. He was obliged to look for alternatives to wood carving because wood was expensive and the carving tools potentially dangerous. Clay was the best material because it was cheap and readily available. The closure of Kohitere meant redundancy for Wi, so in 1989 he enrolled in the four-year course for the New Zealand Certificate of Craft Design at Whitireia Polytechnic, Porirua. On graduating he was offered a position at Whitireia as a tutor, specialising in clay sculpture. He now lives in Levin and teaches part-time at Whitireia Polytechnic and at Wanganui Polytechnic as artist/mentor. He also participates in national and international workshops. Wi Taepa is a member of Ngā Kaihanga Uku, a group of Māori clayworkers founded in 1987. Other members include Manos Nathan, Baye Riddell, Paerau Corneal and Colleen Waata Urlich. Before this Māori clayworkers had worked in isolation. Now thanks to their shared knowledge and experiences they have developed a foundation for Māori clayworkers to build on. Taepa does not use a potter's wheel but instead shapes the clay by hand to make his vessels and sculptures. He uses coil, pinch and slab methods to create form, texture and surface patterning in his work. At first he used traditional Māori designs to decorate his vessels, which was also a way of expressing his cultural heritage. Over time, still drawing from his cultural tradition, Taepa has redesigned kōwhaiwhai, tukutuku and weaving patterns to suit the development of his ideas and philosophy. Inspired by the notching in early Māori carving, he 60 often uses punch marking to create surface decoration, inlaying other materials such as flax or bone. Taepa's works are unglazed and are sometimes fired in a hole filled with sawdust, which is lit and burns slowly overnight. Sometimes they are fired in gas or wood kilns. Taepa works with a variety of forms, from gourd-shaped pots to life-sized figures. His work is held in private collections in the United States, England, Europe, Africa, and Samoa. He has exhibited widely in New Zealand as well as in the South Pacific, England, the USA, and Zimbabwe which he visited in 1995 as part of an extensive research trip. His main influence is Māori and New Zealand culture but he acknowledges other influences, such as Lapita pottery and the work of native American, African, and Fijian potters.21 Wi Taepa was a display artist before he enlisted for the New Zealand Army and served in Vietnam. He later worked in security, in the penal system and the Department of Social Welfare. In 1983 he was involved in the carving projects at the Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington, and the Orongomai Marae, Upper Hutt. He followed this with a period of study in craft design at Whitirea Polytechnic and has been a tutor there since 1993. As a student he worked with a number of media, including clay, which offered him a welcome level of freedom. It contrasted with the tight specifications usually imposed when he carved stone or wood. His imagery evolved from his Maori heritage: the designs of the past and listening to historical narratives fed his fertile mind. Whakapapa (genealogy) provided the content, and he honored this by revisiting early styles of working. Taepa enjoys reclaiming and transposing little-known processes to his clay work. One of the techniques he uses is punch marking, which is an old way of working that evolved from notching in very early Maori carving and is only occasionally seen. He looks to the way curvilinear lines were created without stone chisels, and replaces very basic tools like sticks with contemporary man made tools. The simple stick marks are replicated with an egg slice or a ballpoint pen, and patterns are rolled as if onto fabric. There are references to rolled color and punch marks in the Lapita pottery traditions of Samoa, and Taepa is keen to explore any possible connections between Maori carving and Lapita pots. 61 His works are hand built and unglazed. Taepa likes to work very fast to capture the spontaneity of his first thoughts. He recognizes that clay is not a medium which can be wholly controlled. He likes to let the colors from the earth emerge during firing as they do in nature – not just the red, white and black associated with Maori art, but a broad color spectrum that includes maroons, the silvers and greys of trees as well as the colors of animals, sea and plant life. His earliest forms in clay referred to utensils like gourds and pieces of weapons. The asymmetrical growth rings of trees like kanuka inspired their surface treatment, and the forms were made slightly off-centre to personalize them. Some of his forms come from Maori ceremony, but by expanding the scale of them the way the viewer engages with the work changes. He is able to present a different viewpoint. An example is a huge feeding funnel which would be used in order not to break the tapu (taboo) imposed when moko (traditional tattoo) is applied. He also makes canoe forms that evoke how Maori came to New Zealand. The beautifully detailed, doughnut shaped work Ipu (vessel) was created for Uku! Uku! Uku! At the International Festival of the Arts, Wellington, 1998. So too were a number of sculptural pieces like boundary pegs. In the past Maori would define boundaries with groups of stones or carved pieces of wood. Taepa created minimalist, faceless works in clay that evoked these markers – like god-sticks. They are a shift from his earlier, more easily recognized figures: here the stance or shape of the head gives viewers clues, yet allows them to tell their own stories. In 1995 he was awarded a grant from Te Atinga which allowed him to attend clay workshops in Sydney, Australia. Through this workshop he established relationships that led to him being invited years later to in an exhibition that toured Australia. He was also invited to sit as a judge on scholarship panels in Bulawayo and Harare in Zimbabwe. Taepa has exhibited extensively both in New Zealand and overseas and his works are found in a number of public and private collections worldwide including the British Museum, Museum of Scotland, Burke Museum USA and Te Papa Tongarewa. In June 2002 he was awarded “Te Ara Whakarei”, honorary user status for the Toi Iho - Maori Made Mark. 62 TRIBAL AFFILIATIONS: Te Arawa, Ngati Whakaue, Te Roro o Te Rangi, Te Āti Awa. EDUCATION: • BFA Wanganui Regional Polytechnic • Massey University-Maori Design Nga Hanga Whakairo • Whitireia Polytechnic – Diploma Craft Design • Wellington Polytechnic- Quantity Cookery – Maori Intensive Language course Wellington • Polytechnic School of Design, 1985-89 COLLECTIONS: • Te Papa Tongarewa, Museum of New Zealand • Auckland Museum: Tamaki Paenga Hira • British Museum, Museum of Mankind • National Gallery, Harare, Zimbabwe • Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh • Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt, N.Z. • National Bank of New Zealand Collection • New Zealand Foreign Affairs Collections • Upper Hutt Expressions Art Centre PUBLICATIONS (WORK FEATURED IN): • Taiawhio II : Contemporary Maori Artists, Huhana Smith (Ed.) Te Papa Press, 2007 • Manawa: Pacific Heart Beat – Celebration of Contemporary Maori and Northwest Coast Art, Spirit Wrestler Gallery, Vancouver, Canada, Published in New Zealand by Reed Publishing - 2006 • Crafted by Design: inside the New Zealand Craft Artist’s Studio, Jeanette Cook and Stephen Robinson - Random House - 2005 • 100 New Zealand Craft Artists, Helen Schamroth - Godwit Press - 1998 • Mataora - the living face –Contemporary Māori Art, Adsett, Ihimaera, Whiting - David Bateman Ltd - 1996 63 MAJOR COMMISSIONS: • Wellington City Council • Porirua City Council • Waikanae City Council • Te Rauparaha Civic Centre, Porirua • Covered Walkways - Porirua City- Urban Renewal Project, sculptural commission SELECTED EXHIBITIONS: • 2008 - Mini Masterworks II - Spirit Wrestler Gallery, Vancouver, B.C. Canada • 2007 - Te Hue Ipu – Artifact and Artwork - Pataka Gallery, Porirua, Whangarei Art Museum - • 2006 - Mini Masterworks - Spirit Wrestler Gallery, Vancouver, B.C. Canada • 2006 - Persona –Tribute Exhibition to John Bevan Ford, Pencil Gallery, Gisborne • 2006 - Manawa : Pacific Heartbeat Spirit Wrestler Gallery Vancouver, B.C. Canada • 2005 - Crafted By Design, Lopdell House Gallery, Auckland • 2005 - Nga Toko Rima : contemporary Maori clayworks- Tinakori Gallery, Wellington • 2005 - Maori Art meets America- Art from the Maori people of New Zealand, Yerba Buena Centre for the Arts, San Francisco • 2005 - Te Maia: exhibition of Maori and international indigenous art, Hawkes Bay Exhibition Centre • 2004 - Whenua: born of the land – Tinakori Gallery, Wellington • 2003/05 - Nga Toko Rima : contemporary clayworks - Te Papa, Museum of New Zealand • 2003/04 - Notions of the figurative –a contemporary survey – Milford Galleries, Dunedin • 2003 - Kiwa: Pacific Connections - Spirit Wrestler Gallery, Vancouver, B.C. Canada • 2002 - Taiawhio-continuity and change – Te Papa, Museum of New Zealand • 2000 - New Sculpture - Milford Galleries, Auckland • 1999 - Whaia ra te Toi Tangata - Suter Gallery, Nelson, N.Z. • 1999 - Fusion: tradition and discovery - Spirit Wrestler Gallery, Vancouver, B.C. Canada • 1998 - Māori: Maori Arts in the British Museum • 1998 - “Manawhenua” inaugural exhibition - opening of Te Papa Museum of NZ 64 • 1998 - Uku Uku Uku, Māori Clayworkers Exhibition, N.Z. International Festival of the Arts, Wgtn • 1998 - He puaawaitanga whakaaro: recent Māori sculpture, Govett Brewster Gallery, New Plymouth • 1997 - New Zealand today: Māori viewpoints, John Royal Gallery, New York and Chicago, U.S.A • 1997 - Te Atinga: Contemporary Māori Arts, Bath International Arts Festival, U.K. • 1996 - Patua, City Gallery, Wellington - N.Z. International Festival of the Arts • 1996 - Kurawaka, Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt, N.Z. • 1995 - Glen Green Gallery, Santa Fe • 1995 - San Francisco Art Gallery • 1994 - Te Waka Toi, touring exhibition of contemporary Māori Art, San Diego, Phoenix, Chicago, Seattle, Hawaii - U.S.A. Auckland, Wellington - N.Z. INDUSTRY AND PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS: • Member, Ngā Puna Waihanga Māori Artists and Writers Association • Member, Te Atinga Committee for contemporary Māori Visual Arts • Co-founder, Ngā Kaihanga Uku, Māori Clayworkers Organisation • Foundation Member, Ngā Tāonga a Hine te Iwa Iwa, N.Z. Craft Resources CONSULTANCY: • Exploratory discussion for development of ceramic programmes, Contracted by Te Wānanga O Aotearoa (University of New Zealand) SEMINARS AND PRESENTATIONS: • 2004/2005 - Te Papa, Museum of New Zealand, Speaker and presentations in support of “Ngā Toko Rima” exhibition • 2004 - Te Wananga O Aotearoa (University of New Zealand), Te Awamutu, “Ngā Kaihanga Uku, Kurawaka” and “Whakapapa - Ahi/Uku” • 2002 - Te Papa, Museum of New Zealand, Guest speaker / demonstrations - exhibition support “Taiawhio, continuity and change” 65 • 2002 - International Academy of Ceramics Forum - Athens, Greece, representing Māori Ceramics to an international audience CATALOGUES: • “Mini Masterworks: Small in Scale, Large in Stature” - Spirit Wrestler Gallery, Vancouver, 2006 • “Whenua: born of the land” – Tinakori Gallery, Wellington 2004 • “Kiwa – Pacific Connections” – Māori Art from Aotearoa - Spirit Wrestler Gallery, Vancouver, 2003 • “Ngā Taonga o Aotearoa - Treasures of New Zealand” - Māori Art at the 8th Festival of Pacific Arts, Kanaky/New Caledonia - 2000 • “Fusion- Tradition and Discovery” - a celebration of shared and cross cultural experiences. • - Spirit Wrestler Gallery, Vancouver, 1999 • “Ngā Taonga a Hine -te-iwa-iwa” - Treasury of New Zealand Craft Resources Catalogue 1997 • "Kurawaka" - Dowse Art Museum 1994 • "Taiarotia" – 1994 Contemporary Māori Art to the USA • “Te Waka Toi" - Contemporary Māori Art from N.Z.-1993 • "Toi Te Ao" - Te Taumata Gallery - Auckland 1993 - Aotearoa World Celebration of Indigenous Art and History • “W*A*R - whatu aho rua” - a weaving together of traditional and contemporary taonga - Sarjeant Gallery-1991 • "Kohia Ko Taikaka Anake" - National Art Gallery 1990 – 91 PERIODICALS (WORK FEATURED IN): N.Z. Potter: Vol. 39 No. 3, 1997 NZ Geographic,Vol 43 July/Sept, 1999 Vol. 35 No. 3, 1993 Vol. 35 No. 2, 1993 Vol. 32 No. 1, 1990 Vol. 31 No. 3, 1989 NZ House & Garden: Sept 1995 Mana Magazine: No. 60 Oct/Nov 2004 No. 5 Feb/Mar 1994 66 No. 3 Apr/May 1993 No. 4 Nov/Dec, 1993 Pacific Way: July 1994 NZ Listener: June 1994 North & South: Nov 1993 NEW ZEALAND DELEGATIONS: • 2008 - Participating Artist at 10th Festival of Pacific Arts, Pagopago, American Samoa • 2006 - Supporting Artists Group – “Manawa– Pacific Heartbeat” exhibition, Vancouver, Canada • 2005 - Supporting Artists Group - Toi Māori:Art from the Māori people of New Zealand – Yerba Buena Centre for the Arts, San Francisco • 2003 - Supporting Artists Group – “Kiwa – Pacific Connections” exhibition, Vancouver, Canada • 2000 - Participating Artist at 8th Festival of Pacific Arts, Noumea, Kanaky/ New Caledonia • 1998 - Supporting Artists Group - Māori Arts in the British Museum • 1996 - Te Atinga Representative - 7th Festival of Pacific Arts, Apia, Western Samoa • 1992 - “Waka Toi : Māori Art to the USA” Artist support group and Cultural Exchange Arizona and New Mexico , USA References BOOKS 1. Hiroa, Te Rangi. (1949). The Coming of the Maori. Wellington, New-Zealand: Maori Purposes Fund Board. 2. Smith, H. (Ed.). (2007). Taiawhio II: Contemporary Maori Artists in Conversation. Wellington, New-Zealand: Te Papa Press. 3. Taepa, C. H. (1966). The Carved Pulpit: The Rangiatea Story. Wellington, New Zealand: Publisher? 4. Borell, Nigel. (2018). Wi Taepa Retrospective: Auckland, New-Zealand: Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki and Pātaka Art + Museum. 5. Friend, Reuben. (Ed.). (2016). Wi Taepa Retrospect. Porirua, New-Zealand: Pataka Museum. 67 6. Hutchins, M. (2013). Uku Rere: Nga Kaihanga Uku & Beyond. Porirua, New-Zealand: Pataka Art + Museum. 7. Best, E. (1921). The Maori Genius for Personification; with Illustrations of Maori Mentality. F.N.Z.Inst, Vol. 53. Art. I. Wellington, New-Zealand. Retrieved from http://rsnz.natlib.govt.nz/volume/rsnz_53/rsnz_53_00_000170.html INTERVIEW 1. Pataka Art + Museum. (2016). Laura Taepa interview for Wi Taepa exhibition. Porirua, New-Zealand: Taepa, L. NEWSPAPER 1. Porirua News. (1997 October 30.) Whitireia art on show. Tai Awatea, Te Papa's onfloor multimedia database. Wellington, New-Zealand. 2. Thomas, Carly. (2015, December 24). A retrospective look at art. Manawatu Standard, Page number? Retrieved from https://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/lifestyle/75402293/a-retrospective-look- at-art 10 June 2018. 3. Dibble, Fran. (2016, November 11). A Visit to Pātaka. Manawatu Standard, Page number? Retrieved from https://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatustandard/lifestyle/86206873/10 June 2018 ONLINE 1. A "glorious day" dawns at Waiwhetu. (undated) Te Runanga o Taranaki Whanui. Retrieved from http://www.atiawa.com/marae_history3.htm 2. Phil Moore and Bruce McFadgen, 'Kōhatu – Māori use of stone - Stone tools', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved from http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/document/8877/whakapapa-of-rocks-and-stones (accessed 13 June 2018) 3. Spirit Wrestler Gallery. (2005). Wi Te Tau Pirika Taepa. Retrieved from http://www.spiritwrestler.com/catalog/index.php?artists_id=39 4 Geoff Irwin, 'Pacific migrations', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/pacific-migrations (accessed 13 June 2018) 5. Hurrell, John. (2018, June 4). The Clay Artistry of Wi Taepa. Retrieved from http://eyecontactsite.com/2018/06/the-clay-artistry-of-wi-taepa 6. Auckland Art Gallery Toi O Tamaki. (2018). Wi Taepa: Retrospective Sat 28 Apr 2018 — Sun 2 Sep 2018 Retrieved from https://www.aucklandartgallery.com/whats-on/exhibition/wi-taepa- retrospective Wi1-44 final Wi45-55 final Wi56-67 final