New Zealand award for Māori portraiture
The Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award is a biennial art award in New Zealand, hosted in Wellington by the New Zealand Portrait Gallery in partnership with the Office of the Māori Queen. The award was named for the Māori King, Tūheitia. It was launched in August 2020 and was first presented in 2021. In addition to showcasing emerging Māori artists, the award is intended to hold a role in recording and naming ancestors from various Māori hapū and iwi, and their stories.
The award is preceded by a competition, encouraging Māori artists to create portraits of their ancestors () in any visual medium. A panel of judges selects finalists from the competition entries and these works are shown in a three-month long exhibition, hosted by the New Zealand Portrait Gallery and timed to coincide with Matariki. Following the closure of the inaugural award competition exhibition in August 2021, the exhibition toured the country for two years. A second competition was presented in 2023.
2021 competition.
The inaugural competition in 2021 attracted 128 entries; 50 finalists were selected and exhibited in the award exhibition. The judging panel selected a first prize winner, a runner-up and awarded 13 Honourable Mentions. The judges were Sir Derek Lardelli, Kura Te Waru Rewiri and Lisa Reihana.
2023 competition.
The 2023 competition had 96 entries and 43 finalists. The judges were Steve Gibbs, Mr G (Graham Hoete) and Lisa Reihana. The winner gets a NZ$20,000 prize and runner-up gets a NZ$2,500 prize. Judges commendations and the winners were announced on May 24 2023.
One of the entries, "Heke Mai", by Robert Pritchard-Blunt was created using artificial intelligence (AI) and Photoshop and is a picture of his maternal great-great-grandmother, Rakapa Rakapa Tarapiipipi of Ngāti Hauā.
The winning entry by Stevei Houkāmau was partly inspired by time she spent on a Native American reservation in New Mexico and learning about blue corn seeds that had been with people for generations. The work is about her great-great-grandmother Hinemaurea and the wider family also. Hinemaurea was the daughter of Raramaitai and married to Te Aotaki, they had five children including Ruataupare, who was married to Tūwhakairiora (a Ngāti Porou chief).Hinemaurea was seen to have great mana and has two existing marae named after her, including our marae in Wharekahika, Hicks Bay. (Stevei Houkāmau 2023)
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