John Walsh with A Portrait of Ūawa Tolaga Bay He Whakaahua o Ūawa. Photo / New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata
John Walsh with A Portrait of Ūawa Tolaga Bay He Whakaahua o Ūawa. Photo / New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata
Leading contemporary New Zealand painter John Walsh says he is honoured to be judging the 2025 Te Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award for young Māori artists.
“Each judge brings their own qualities to the task,” says Walsh, who is of Te Aitanga a Hauiti and Irish descent.
“The Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award gives Māori a national stage to shine on.”
The award, launched in 2020, aims to inspire a new generation of Māori artists to create portraits of their tūpuna (ancestors).
“When an artist marries their talents with the character of their subject, the work comes to life and the viewer is engaged,” Walsh says.
Entries are open to Māori artists aged 35 years and under who have either created an artwork within the last two years or wish to create an artwork especially for the competition, using any visual medium (aside from AI-generated technology) with whakapapa connections to the depicted tūpuna.
Artist John Walsh with his painting Pare to my Place, 2009. Photo / Richard Robinson
Walsh is known for his sublime, ethereal landscapes featuring dense narratives, which often depict scenes or characters from myths and legends of East Coast Māori.
Born in Tolaga Bay on the East Coast of the North Island, Walsh spent much of his early days in the Tairāwhiti region before heading to Christchurch where he attended Ilam School of Fine Arts at Canterbury University between 1973 and 1974.
He later returned to the East Coast where he specialised in portraiture.
His works are included in numerous collections nationally and internationally, including Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand and the Tjibaou Cultural Centre, Noumea.
Te Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award gives artists an opportunity to showcase their talent on a national stage while competing for a first prize of $20,000 and a second prize of $2500, both sponsored by the Office of the Kiingitanga.
Finalists will be included in a touring exhibition and contend for the Forsyth Barr People’s Choice Award of $2500.
Also on the judging panel are Dr Areta Wilkinson (Ngai Tahu) and Renata Te Wiata (Waikato, Ngati Mahuta, Te Arawa, Ngati Kea, Ngati Tuara).
This year the rules of the award have been clarified to specifically focus on Māori artists aged 35 and under because the purpose is to highlight and celebrate emerging talent.
The exhibition of finalist artworks will be showcased in Te Whanganui-a-Tara at The New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata from May 22 to August 17, 2025.
The artworks will then tour the country over a two-year period.
Entries close at 4pm on March 20, 2025, and the winners will be announced at the exhibition opening on May 21.
Artist Stevei Houkāmau with her work Kia Whakatōmuri Te Haere Whakamua, which won the 2023 Kingii Tuheitia Portraiture Award. Photo / Juan Zarama Perini
