Rangi kipa biography templates

Extract

A landmark account in words and pictures of Māori art, by Māori art historians – from Polynesian voyaging waka to contemporary Māori artists.

He toi whakairo, he mana tangata.
Through artistic excellence, there is human dignity.

Toi Te Mana is a landmark account of Māori art from the time of the tūpuna (ancestors) to the present day.

In 600 pages and over 500 extraordinary images, this volume invites readers to climb on to the waka for a remarkable voyage – from ancestral weavers to contemporary artists at the Venice Biennale, from whare whakairo to film, and from Te Puea Hērangi to Michael Parekōwhai.

The authors explore a wide field of art practice: raranga (plaiting), whatu (weaving), moko (tattoo), whakairo (carving), rākai (jewellery), kākahu (textiles), whare (architecture), toi whenua (rock art), painting, photography, sculpture, ceramics, installation art, digital media and film. And they do so over a long time period – from the arrival of Pacific voyagers 800 years ago to contemporary artists in Aotearoa and around the world today. Through wide-ranging chapters alongside focused breakout boxes on individual artists, movements and events, Toi Te Mana is a waka eke noa – an essential book for anyone interested in te ao Māori.

Toi Te Mana is a Māori art history, written by Māori, given to the world.

Toitū te whenua, toitū te tikanga, ka ora ngā toi.
When we hold fast to our land and values, our art flourishes.

Endorsements

‘Toi Te Mana is an outstanding publication that brings to fruition the work of two exceptional Māori scholars and their visionary collaborator, the late Māori art historian Jonathan Mane-Wheoki. The book is not only a landmark in Māori art history, it challenges us to reconceive the entire narrative of art and modernity from the perspective of Indigenous cultures worldwide.’ — Peter Brunt, Te Heren

"Rangi is an artist leading transformative change in Aotearoa. His work—at small and monumental scale—gives shape to Māori cultural aspirations, and engineers new ways to operate in Aotearoa." - 2021 Selection Panel

Receiving the 2021 Arts Foundation Laureate Award for Ngā Toi Māori

Raised in Waitara in Taranaki, Kipa made his national debut as a contemporary Māori artist in the 1996 exhibition, Patua: Māori Art in Action at City Gallery Wellington. Rangi’s rei puta – intricately carved whale teeth pendants with delicate chevron-based ridged designs readily traced back to Eastern Polynesia – immediately commanded the attention of Māori art leaders and general visitors alike. He also practised tā moko in the gallery for the duration of the three-week exhibition. Returning to Taranaki in 2000, Rangi became a founding member of Te Uhi ā Mataora, the Toi Māori Committee committed to the retention and advancement of tā moko. The wealth of moko kauwae witnessed on marae in Taranaki today is evidence of Rangi’s dedicated work along with the moko carried by many toa who undertake brave work around the world.

Through the Master of Māori Visual Arts programme, Rangi moved toward large-scale work. As the 2006 Creative New Zealand Craft/Object Fellow, Rangi produced the autobiographical whare whakairo ‘Radiare’ (2007), which was included in the ‘Star Power’ exhibition at the Denver Museum of Contemporary Art and continues to reside in North America. This shift to large-scale has been further developed through major commissions for Waikato University (2011), Victoria University of Wellington (2012), Auckland Museum and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (2015) and most recently, Te Hono - New Plymouth airport terminal (2019-2020). This beautiful example of integrated design received the Toitanga gold medal at the Designers Institute of New Zealand Best Design Awards (2020). Throughout his career, Kipa has forged a practice that investiga

General Editor: Huhana Smith

Publication date: July 2007
NZ RRP (incl. GST): $49.99
Extent: 320pp
Illustrations: 200+ full-colour plates
Format: 210 x 297 mm
Binding: PB
ISBN: 978-0-909010-09-6

Out of Print

Taiāwhio: Conversations with Contemporary Māori Artists, now in its third reprint, has proven invaluable to art lovers, students, teachers, and those with a passion for New Zealand art.

This new volume profiles a fresh range of contemporary Māori artists:

• Sandy Adsett (painter)

• Nigel Borell (painter)

• Cath Brown (weaver)

• Chris Bryant (sculptor)

• Paerau Corneal (claywork)

• Shane Cotton (painter)

• Brett Graham (sculptor)

• Robert Jahnke (sculptor)

• Rangi Kipa (carver)

• Julie Kipa (ta moko practitioner, painter)

• Reuban Paterson (painter)

• Rachel Rakena (multi-media artist performance group)

• Lisa Reihana (multi-media artist)

• Ngatai Taepa (painter, sculptor)

• Wi Taepa (claywork)

• Colleen Waata Urlich (claywork)

• Tina Wirihana (weaver)

• Atamira Dance Company

Each profile contains pages of information and quotes from the artists so readers can learn, in the artists’ own words, about their influences and inspirations, work methods and practices. Numerous full-colour photographs accompany each chapter, depicting the artists at work and showing the range of their work and the environment in which they create it.

Short biographies are given for each artist, and a general introduction by Huhana Smith provides context for the interviews and background information about contemporary Māori art.

These artists work across a wide range of media and forms of expression including weaving, painting, claywork, sculpture, carving, tā moko, Kaihanga Uku, multimedia, jewellery, and dance, making this book an excellent introduction to the dynamic world of contemporary visual culture in Aotearoa today.

Reviews

New Zealand sculptor, carver, illustrator and tā moko artist

Rangi Kipa (born 1966) is a New Zealand sculptor, carver, illustrator and tā moko (traditional Māori tattoo) artist.

Education

Kipa is a graduate of the Maraeroa Carving School in Porirua (1986), and completed a Bachelor of Social Sciences at Waikato University in 1994 and a Masters of Māori Visual Arts at Massey University in 2006.

Work

Kipa is probably best known for mixing customary Māori motifs and techniques with non-traditional materials. He is also interested in (in his own words) "participating in the revival of a number of Māori art forms that were affected by the colonial process in New Zealand".

Kipa was originally trained in customary carving traditions. He credits his transition towards contemporary art practice to his Master's study at the School of Māori Visual Arts, where he began carving Corian. He says "When I went to Massey I wanted to find a material I was totally unfamiliar with and in the second year I came across the manmade material Corian. It lit me up; before that I was using materials I had pretty much mastered and I was bored with them'’. Early examples of Kipa's Corian tiki were shown at Auckland Art Gallery in the exhibition Hei Tiki, which explored contemporary interpretations of the customary form. His contemporary hei tiki carving was featured on the New Zealand Post $1.50 stamp in the Matariki series in 2009.

He also makes and plays taonga pūoro.

Art historian Ngarino Ellis writes that patterns used in Kipa's tā moko "will be based on Kipa's whakairo (carving) practice, with a modern slant, both in the imagery and the ideas articulated within it". She continues

Kipa is keen to break boundaries and challenge the notion of tradition within Māori culture. Through his moko work, he is able t