Artwork information

Ko tā Arnold Manaaki Wilson he whakairo i tētahi poro rākau kauri iti he tangata e tū ana te ringa nō te Whakapono Ringatū, hei whakaatu i ōna pūkenga ariā tūrehurehu e tītohu ana i te tohunga Māori a Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Tūruki o te rautau 19. Ko te urupare a Te Kooti ki ngā whānako a te Karauna i ngā whenua, he whakatū i tēnei hāhi whakapono ko tōna kaupapa he pupuri i te whenua i roto i te ringa o te Māori, me te ao Māori.

Ko te ringa e tū ana te mahi ā-ringa tonu e oti ai i roto i ngā karakia me ngā hui ōkawa. Kei te maumaharatia ngā Hauhau e 300 i mauheretia koretake nei, nā Te Kooti rātou i ārahi kia puta ai i te mauhere i Wharekauri i te tau 1868.

Styling a small piece of kauri timber as a shortened figure adorned with the raised hand of the religious movement Ringatū, Arnold Manaaki Wilson demonstrates his command of the concepts of abstraction to portray 19th-century Māori prophet Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki. Te Kooti responded to the unlawful land confiscations at the hands of the British Crown by creating this religious movement that was focused on Māori retaining their lands and their way of life.

Ringatū – which translates as the upraised hand – was the literal action performed as part of karakia (prayers) and ceremonial gatherings. It recalls the 300 Hauhau political prisoners who were led to freedom from the Chatham Islands (Wharekauri) by Te Kooti in 1868. (Toi Tū Toi Ora: Contemporary Māori Art, 2020)