Te Kura i huna
Te Kura i tupua
Te Kura i tawhito
Te Kura i tiki mai i Hawaiki
Ngataiharuru Taepa (Te Arawa, Te Āti Awa) lives and works in Palmerston North where he is Professor and Associate Pro Vice Chancellor of Toi Rauwhārangi – College of Creative Arts, Massey University.
He has been exhibiting for more than twenty years with representation from Wellington’s PAGE Galleries. ‘Te Kura’ is his first solo exhibition in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland and Tim Melville is proud to present Taepa’s three-dimensional kōwhaiwhai wall sculptures to a new audience. The artist himself “would like to acknowledge Ngāti Whatua, Tim, Olivia, Te Ranga Tai Kura and all who have taken the time to support this exhibition.”
Taepa explained in a recent interview with Art Collector Magazine that “another word for kōwhaiwhai is tuhituhi – which is the Māori word we now use for ‘writing’. Kōwhaiwhai was the ‘writing’ of our ancestors. That’s the way they described what they saw in the world – through the written language of tuhituhi or kōwhaiwhai.”
“I’m quite conscious that this art form pre-dates, in our culture, the written word, and part of my Master’s looked at the impact of the written word on our visual culture and on kōwhaiwhai.”
Taepa characterises his Auckland show as “a continuation of previous exhibitions that give visual expression to particular karakia by engaging the customary art form of kōwhaiwhai.
Here, the karakia is Te Kura Huna “
Photography by Kallan MacLeod
Ngataiharuru Taepa
Te Kura
2022
installation view
Ngataiharuru Taepa
Te Kura a Nuku
2022
earth oxides and acrylic on Latvian birch
473mm H x 1286mm W x 43mm D
PRIVATE COLLECTION
Ngataiharuru Taepa
Te Kura Matiti
2022
acrylic on Latvian birch
840mm H x 945mm W x 43mm D
PRIVATE COLLECTION
Ngataiharuru Taepa
Te Kura a Nuku (detail)
2022
earth oxides and acrylic on Latvian birch
473mm H x 1286mm W x 43mm D
PRIVATE COLLECTION
Ngataiharuru Taepa
Te Kura Matiti (detail)
2022
acrylic on Latvian birch
840mm H x 945mm W x 43mm D
PRIVATE COLLECTION
Ngataiharuru Taepa
Te Kura
2022
installation view
Ngataiharuru Taepa
Te Kura Awhitia te Nuku
2022
earth oxides and acrylic on Latvian birch with Fijian mahogany
689mm H x 961mm W x 43mm D
Ngataiharuru Taepa
Te Kura Awhitia te Rangi
2022
acrylic on Latvian birch
832mm H x 1129mm W x 43mm D
Ngataiharuru Taepa
Te Kura Awhitia te Rangi
2022
acrylic on Latvian birch
832mm H x 1129mm W x 43mm D
Ngataiharuru Taepa
Te Kura Tētē
2022
acrylic on Latvian birch
609mm H x 467mm W x 43mm D
Ngataiharuru Taepa
Te Kura Tētē (detail)
2022
acrylic on Latvian birch
609mm H x 467mm W x 43mm D
Ngataiharuru Taepa
Te Kura Wao Nui
2022
acrylic on Latvian birch with Fijian mahogany
724mm H x 1152mm W x 43mm D
PRIVATE COLLECTION
Ngataiharuru Taepa
Te Kura
2022
installation view
Ngataiharuru Taepa
Te Kura Rau Ora
2022
acrylic on Latvian birch with Fijian mahogany
458mm H x 530mm W x 43mm D
PRIVATE COLLECTION
Ngataiharuru Taepa
Te Kura
2022
installation view
Ngataiharuru Taepa
Te Kura Wao Nui
2022
acrylic on Latvian birch with Fijian mahogany
724mm H x 1152mm W x 43mm D
PRIVATE COLLECTION
Ngataiharuru Taepa
Te Kura
2022
installation view
Ngataiharuru Taepa
Te Kura Tawhito
2022
acrylic on Latvian birch
510mm H x 1103mm W x 43mm D
PRIVATE COLLECTION
Ngataiharuru Taepa
Te Kura
2022
installation view
Ngataiharuru Taepa
Te Kura Tupua
2022
acrylic on Latvian birch
665mm H x 470mm W x 43mm D
PRIVATE COLLECTION
Ngataiharuru Taepa
Te Kura Āio
2022
acrylic on Latvian birch
630mm H x 661mm W x 43mm D
PRIVATE COLLECTION
Ngataiharuru Taepa
Te Kura
2022
installation view
Ngataiharuru Taepa
Te Kura Huna
2022
acrylic on Latvian birch with Fijian mahogany
383mm H x 665mm W x 43mm D
PRIVATE COLLECTION
Ngataiharuru Taepa
Te Kura Tātai
2022
acrylic on Latvian birch with Fijian mahogany
565mm H x 591mm W x 43mm D
Ngataiharuru Taepa
Te Kura
2022
installation view
Ngataiharuru Taepa
Te Kura
2022
installation view
Ngataiharuru Taepa
Te Kura Hihiko
2022
acrylic on Latvian birch
295mm H x 1091mm W x 43mm D
Ngataiharuru Taepa
Te Kura Hihiko
2022
acrylic on Latvian birch
295mm H x 1091mm W x 43mm D
Ngataiharuru Taepa
Te Kura Hihiri
2022
acrylic on Latvian birch
538mm H x 481mm W x 43mm D
PRIVATE COLLECTION
Ngataiharuru Taepa
Te Kura
2022
installation view