Whenua/Wahine/Whenua (Land/Woman/Land)

Nō mua noa atu a Kura Te Waru Rewiri e whai atu ana i te kaupapa mō te whenua hei tangata, arā ko Papatūānuku. Kua tāpirihia ki tāna peita te Whenua/Wahine/Whenua (Land/Woman/Land), 1989 ngā rākau e waru. I kōhia ngā kānuka mai i tētahi wāhi tapu e mōhio nei te whānau a te ringa toi. Ko te kaute o aua pūkiore he tohutoro ki tōna ingoa a Waru. Ki tā ngā kupu a te ringa toi, ko ngā āhua o tēnei peita he ‘mea mataara – e whakatā ana, e whakarongo ana’: he maumaharatanga ki te nui whakaharahara o te whenua hei tangata ora e hiahia ana kia poipoia, kia tiakina, pērā i a tāua te tangata.

Kura Te Waru Rewiri has long held interest in the sacred nature of the land as a personfication of Papatūānuku (Earth Mother). Attached to her painting Whenua/Wahine/Whenua (Land/Woman/Land), 1989 are eight rakau (sticks). The kānuka (tea tree) sticks were gathered from a wahi tapu (sacred site) known to the artist’s whānau (family). The number of painted panels is a literal reference to part of her name, Waru (eight). In the artist’s words the figures in this painting are ‘alert – resting but listening’: they are a reminder of the importance of the land as a living being that needs to be nurtured and cared for as much we believe we require this as human beings. (Toi Tū Toi Ora: Contemporary Māori Art, 2020)

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