Passing Of Renowned Artist & Writer Robyn Kahukiwa

12 April 2025

Renowned artist and writer Robyn Kahukiwa—of Ngāti Porou, Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, Ngāti Konohi, and Te Whānau-a-Ruataupare descent—passed away yesterday, Friday 11 April, at Wellington Hospital, Te Whanganui-a-Tara. She was 86. Kahukiwa was one of the leading artists of her generation and one the first Māori women artists to achieve international renown. She worked tirelessly to uplift Māori people, values, and rights. Her art traverses a wide range of media and styles, exploring questions of heritage, identity, and sovereignty central to the Māori experience and relevant to Indigenous people from around the world.

Kahukiwa married the late Dooley Pera Kahukiwa, of Ngāti Whakaue and Te Arawa, in 1965, and the couple had three children. Her first solo exhibition was held in 1971 at Red Cottage Gallery in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Throughout the 1970s, she made broadly realist work exploring diverse subjects, including motherhood, environmental issues, and the experiences of Māori living in urban contexts. She exhibited regularly with the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, while working as art teacher at Mana College in Porirua.

During the 1980s, she began illustrating and writing books, in addition to making art. Taniwha, the first of many children’s books authored by Kahukiwa, was named the Children’s Picture Book of the Year in 1987. In 1983, aided by a grant, she became a full-time artist and completed her ground-breaking Wāhine Toa exhibition, which emphasised the importance of atua wāhine, and toured the country from 1983 to 1984. In the second half of the decade, her paint-handling became expressionistic and she increasingly made use of vibrant colour. She became a key member of Haeata Māori Women’s Art Collective and showed alongside fellow trailblazing ringatoi wāhine.

From the mid-1980s on, Kahukiwa’s work was included in most major exhibitions of Māori art. She held solo exhibitions throughout Aotearoa and participated in group exhibitions and workshops in Australia, Great Britain, the United States (including Hawaii), and, in 2023, the United Arab Emirates, where she was part of Sharjah Biennial 15: Thinking Historically in the Present, curated by Hoor Al Qasimi. She undertook significant commissions for government departments and Māori organisations, creating pieces for public display and reproduction in printed materials. Examples of her work are held by Aotearoa’s most important public institutions and in the collections of countless families.

Kahukiwa emphasised political subjects throughout her career, addressing the negative impacts of colonisation on Māori and promoting mana motuhake and mana wāhine. Her activism found expression not only through her art but also through groups like Kia Mau, which she co-founded with Tina Ngata, the late Moana Jackson, and others. Many of her later works focus on social issues, such as child poverty, incarceration, and homelessness. Grounded in whakapapa and tikanga, her work always sought to foster Māori wellbeing. In 2020, she received Te Tohu Aroha mō Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu | Exemplary/Supreme Award at Te Waka Toi Awards in recognition of her life’s achievement.

The passing of Robyn Kahukiwa represents an immense loss, but her legacy will only grow with the passage of time. Many of her books remain in print, including the seminal Wāhine Toa: Omniscient Māori Women (1984/2018), Taniwha (1986), Paikea (1994), and Te Haka a Tānerore (2018, winner in the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults) and Taranga (2023), both written by Reina Kahukiwa. A significant survey exhibition, Tohunga Mahi Toi, curated by Roma Pōtiki, is presently touring Aotearoa. A major publication, a retrospective exhibition, and a solo exhibition to be presented in London are in development.

At Kahukiwa’s request, her life will be honoured through a small, private gathering of her whānau. They request that their privacy be respected at this time of great sadness.

A statement from the artist’s daughter, Reina Kahukiwa, and the whānau follows

Tēnā koutou katoa,

Ko te reo pōhiri tēnei o te whānau Kahukiwa. Kua hinga te totara haemata o te Wao nui a Tāne a Robyn Kahukiwa inanahi rā. Auē te mamae e ngaukino nei.

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Robyn Kahukiwa, beloved Mum, Kōka, Nanny, Kuia, and Great Nanny to her mokopuna, widow of Dooley Pera Kahukiwa (dec) Ngāti Whakaue, Te Arawa.

Māreikura, Wahine Toa, and Tohunga mahi toi Māori Robyn Kahukiwa - of Ngāti Porou, Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, Ngāti Konohi, and Te Whānau-a-Ruataupare descent, passed away peacefully after illness on 11 April 2025 with she said, her kaitiaki near, wrapped in the korowai of aroha and pouritanga of our whānau.

Robyn was a highly regarded Māori artist who exhibited nationally and internationally. She was a staunch supporter of Māori rights, of our Tino Rangatiratanga.

Based on her political beliefs, Robyn turned down state and crown honours awards, however in 2020, Kahukiwa received the Te Tohu Aroha mō Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu | Exemplary/Supreme Award at the Te Waka Toi Awards, in recognition of her life’s work.

My mother and our Nanny Robyn was a courageous Wahine Toa throughout her life and in her passing. She was a private person in her personal life. She always said ‘My art speaks for me.’ It was Kōka Robyn’s request that a small whānau gathering be held to honour her life. We have cherished the precious time we’ve had to be with her in her life and in her final weeks and days. Mum’s and Nanny’s private cremation will take place shortly at her request and when our whānau are ready we will take her back to Ngāti Whakaue to be with her makau, Dooley Kahukiwa, at Kauae. It was important to her and our whānau that we respect and follow her final wishes. Mum and Nanny, you leave a huge hole in our lives. We love and will miss you so very much. You leave your great legacy of Māori art, and the taonga of your stories and illustrations for us your whānau, your mokopuna, and future generations.

Mum chose her painting for this post ‘Ancestor’ 2024, one of a series of paintings she made last year that have been selected with her other paintings for an exhibition of her work in London UK in 2025.

We give special thanks and gratitude to the staff at Wellington Hospital Ward 6.

E te pou tokomanawa o tō tātou whānau, e kinikini ana te mamae i tō rirohanga. Heoi ko tō wairua e ora i roto i tō whānau mō āke āke. Tīraha takoto i roto i te aroha o ōu tīpuna e tatari ana ki a koe. Taihoa tō wairua e tukua kia rere kia tangi tātou tō whānau. Haere, e oki our darling Mum and Nanny.

For those who would like to koha the details are below please reference your name.

R Kahukiwa
03-0502-0196947-00

Nga mihi aroha, te whānau o Robyn me Dooley Kahukiwa.

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