Waikato Museum hosts Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award travelling exhibition

Bodie Friend from Waikato was announced the winner of the 2021 Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award and received a $20,000 cash prize for the photograph "Nana Pat". Photo / Supplied

Works and finalists from the inaugural Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award are going on tour around the country in a travelling exhibition and Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato is the first to host it.

The award provides emerging Māor artists with the opportunity to showcase their talents on the national stage, while also playing an important role in recording and celebrating tūpuna (ancestors) and their stories.

Waikato Museum director of museum and arts Liz Cotton says the exhibition is full of contrast and variation.

"But there is deep-seated emotion that runs throughout. You can really feel the connection and respect that each of these artists has for their tipuna and the generations that came before them. It's an honour to be the first in Aotearoa New Zealand to share these works."

The award was launched last year in honour of Kingi Tuheitia as a partnership between the Office of the Kingtanga and the New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata.

Entrants were asked to create an artwork with whakapapa (family history) connections to the depicted tupuna. The inaugural competition attracted portraits using a wide range of media including digital video, whakairo (carving), raranga (weaving), photography, ceramics, and oil paintings.

Office of the Kingitanga chief of staff Archdeacon Ngira Simmonds said the competition was a chance for Māori artists to shine and the Kingitanga was proud to support the arts in this way.

"Sharing our whakapapa through art has always been important for our people. This award continues in that tradition and seeks to provide te iwi Maaori with an opportunity to engage in a new kaupapa that is exciting."

Bodie Friend from Waikato was named winner of the 2021 Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award earlier this year and received a $20,000 cash prize.

His work "Nana Pat" was chosen as the winner by a judging panel of renowned New Zealand artists including Sir Derek Lardelli and Lisa Reihana from 128 entries nationwide.

Bodie's black and white photograph depicts his great-uncle Pat Kingi of Horahora Marae in Rangiriri, or as he's more affectionately known, Nana Pat.

The Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award exhibition is open daily from 10am to 5pm until May 8, 2022. Entry is free.