Te Wehenga o Rangi raua ko Papa

Ko Fred Graham tētahi o ngā ringa toi Māori tuatahi o te ao hou; i puta ana mahi i ngā tau 1950. Pērā i te kōtuku rerenga tahi i tēnei tārai, ka ara mai te toi Māori ao hou hei kaupapa whakawhana, he mea i rapu ai i ngā wāhi me te auaha ki tua o ngā herenga me ngā tikanga o te toi ōkawa o mua.

I roto i te whakapapa o ngā toi ōkawa o mua, kua hangaia e te ringa toi ētahi tohu kē mō Tāne, mō ana tamariki (ngā manu me ngā rākau), mō ōna tēina, ōna tuākana, ōna tuāhine, ōna mātua. Ko Te Wehenga o Rangi raua ko Papa, 1988 he kōrero whakapapa, he kōrero panonitanga i roto i ngā āhuatanga katoa o te orokohanga o te ao.

Fred Graham is one of the first generation of contemporary Māori artists who emerged in the 1950s. Like the rare and pioneering kotuku (white heron) in this sculpture, contemporary Māori art emerged as a radical break, seeking spaces and auaha (form) beyond the constraints and conventions of customary art.

In the lineage of narrative composition found in customary art forms, the artist has created symbolic representations of Tāne, his children (birds and trees), his siblings and their parents. Te Wehenga o Rangi raua ko Papa, 1988 is a story of whakapapa (lineage, layering) and generational change in all forms of creation.

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