Overall award winner artist Stevei Haukāmau standing in front of her winning piece Kia Whakatōmuri te haere whakamua. Photo: Supplied / Rebecca Reed
Māori artists are redefining what a portrait looks like at this year's Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award exhibition.
Wellington based artist Stevei Houkāmau has been named the overall winner and taken out $20,000 in prize money.
Kiingi Tuheitia was on hand as the karakia rang out to officially open the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in Wellington.
The biennial award named in his honour was launched in 2020 and encourages Māori artists to create portraits of their tūpuna in any medium.
Houkāmau of Ngāti Porou and Te Whanau-a-Apanui said her winning piece named, Kia Whakatōmuri te haere whakamua, is a mihi to her ancestress Hinemaurea.
It looks nothing like a traditional European portrait, instead a large chain of carved beads made of uku or clay hangs along the gallery wall. She said it represented the links of her whakapapa.
"It's that whole idea kind of like a tokotoko [staff] where you would run your hand down through it and it would tell the story of my whakapapa, [and] the people within it. Every piece is like a piece of its own artwork but also it's like an entity in itself, so the carving tells the stories."
Houkāmau's partner Jamie Berry was also among the finalists. Houkāmau said it was nice that their work would be displayed together, but was slightly hesitant to tell her that she had won.
"When I first found out I was excited and I really wanted to tell her, but I also felt a little bit stink because I'd won. But as she said if I won the we both win."
The exhibition's opening. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
Award judge Lisa Reihana said it was a lovely but tricky challenge to select a winner from among the 43 finalists.
She said Houkāmau's mahi was almost like rosary beads or touchstones, and it was quite different from the other entries.
"It's a very very beautifully well crafted work, the quality of the uku... when you are thinking about your tūpuna or tangata whenua you are using material of the earth is really beautiful."
Artists used a range of mediums to portray their tūpuna, from paint and photography, to carving, ceramics, harakeke and even AI technology.
Reihana said that was part of the challenge the judges laid before the artists.
"As a group of judges we were very clear that we wanted people to imagine their tūpuna in many different ways."
The exhibition's opening at the National Portrait Gallery in Wellington. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
Fellow judge Graham Hoete - aka Mr G - said the awards were an opportunity for artists to redefine the word portrait.
"In te reo Māori the word portrait is the word whakaahua, so you break that down whaka - meaning to cause, and ahua - to create something that describes the ahua, the nature, the personality and story of a person. So that doesn't necessarily mean an exact description of a face."
Hoete said seeing so many talented artists on display showed that Māori art and portraiture were thriving.
All the finalists work will be displayed at the National Portrait Gallery in Wellington until August, they will then tour the country.
Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver