Artwork Information

Ehara i te mea na te ringa kotahi te kōwhaiwhai, engari ke, na te aroha o te mano.

– Ngataiharuru Taepa, 2015

Koa *Tane Mahuta – Manos Nathan Legacy*, 2015 he aronga hou ki te hoahoa o te kōwhaiwhai. He mātanga a Ngataiharuru ki te whakamahi i ngā rākau hiato; kei te tapahi ia i ngā rākau kia whatungia ngā tauira ngū ki ngā tauira hohe e hopu ā-tuakiri manawataki ai i te mauri o te tohunga whakairo a Manos Nathan.

Kei te tohutorohia ngā hoahoa uku a Nathan e Taepa i a ia e mihi ana ki te ringa toi tautōhito, nāna i ārahi ngā wānanga rangatahi, nā rāua ko tōna pāpā a Wi Taepa i whakatū te kāhui ngā Kaihanga Uku. Kei te whakaata te toi tārai a Ngatai i te mātauranga whakahirahira i tukuna iho e tōna whānau ake, me tōna wā i ngā hui Toi Māori huhua i wānanga ai i te taha o etahi atu ringa toi Māori.

Ehara i te mea na te ringa kotahi te kōwhaiwhai, engari ke, na te aroha o te mano.

Kōwhaiwhai is not fashioned by the hands of one person but by the love of many.

– Ngataiharuru Taepa, 2015

*Tane Mahuta – Manos Nathan Legacy*, 2015 is an innovative approach to customary kōwhaiwhai (painted rafter) design. Ngataiharuru masterfully uses composite woods, cutting them into interlocking passive and active patterning that with unique rhythmic identity, capture the essence of master carver and sculptor Manos Nathan.

Drawing from Nathan’s clay designs, Taepa pays homage to the senior artist and acknowledges his leadership in rangatahi wānanga (teaching youth) and as a co-founder of the Nga Kaihanga Uku clay-workers collective alongside his father Wi Taepa. Ngatai’s sculpture resonates the important knowledge he has gained from his own family’s sculptural heritage and attendance at many Toi Māori hui (meetings about art), sharing ideas and time together with other Māori artists. (Toi Tū Toi Ora: Contemporary Māori Art, 2020)