Uku (clay) Work Wins 2023 Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award

Stevei Houkāmau from Wellington has been announced the winner of the 2023 Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award and a $20,000 cash prize.

Stevei’s work Kia Whakatōmuri te haere whakamua was chosen from an impressive 96 entries nationwide and 43 finalists with the Award being announced in the presence of the King at Pipitea Marae in Wellington on Wednesday 24 May.

The winning work is primarily made from uku (clay) and is held together with strong wire. It can be displayed in many ways. It is hangable from both ends, can be hung from the ceiling, becoiled around itself on a plinth, be draped onto a table, or be displayed as it is in the New Zealand Portrait Gallery, draped in sweeping curves against a wall.

Stevei, whose iwi affiliations include Ngāti Porou and Te Whanau-a-Apanui, spent much of her early and adult life playing representative softball for New Zealand. Following a stint playing softball in the USA, she returned to Aotearoa in 2011 and enrolled in the esteemed Māori visual art and design college Toihoukura to do a bachelor of Māori visual arts. Her original intention was to enter the Tā Moko (tattoo) Program, but she developed a love for uku (clay). She is now a full-time renowned uku artist in Wellington, the inaugural Māori Artist in Residence for Toi Pōneke Arts Centre, and her work is held in many national and international collections.

Her practice is distinctive for its carved markings that act as a visual language encoded with knowledge, genealogy and connect with legacies and migration from te Moana nui a kiwa, and kinship ties with Atua.

When describing her winning work, Stevei says, “My work is about my great great grandmother Hinemaurea. She is the daughter of Raramaitai and was married to Te Aotaki and they occupied Wharekahika in the 16th century. She had 5 children and was mother of Ruataupare who Tuwhakairiora (Great Ngati Porou Chief) married to ensure the security of Ngai Tuiti whenua which infused the stock of Porourangi throughout Tairawhiti. Hinemaurea was seen to have great mana and has two existing maraes named after her, including our marae in Wharekahika, Hawkes Bay.”

A partnership between Kiingtanga and the NZ Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata, the award was launched in 2021 in honour of Kiingi Tuheitia. Emerging Māori artists are tasked with creating an artwork using any visual medium, connecting their portrait to one of their tupuna (ancestors).

The award attracted portraits using a wide range of mediums including whakairo (carving), raranga (weaving), photography, ceramics and oil paintings.

The finalist artworks were judged by a distinguished panel comprising renowned artists at the opening of the exhibition. They include portrait artist Graham Hoete aka "Mr G" (Ngati Awa, Ngai Te Rangi, Ngati Ranginui), researcher, artist, arts educator and curator, Steve Gibbs (Ngāi Tāmanuhiri, Rongowhakaata, Rongomaiwahine), and artist Lisa Reihana (Ngā Puhi, Ngāti Hine, Ngāi Tūteauru, Ngāi Tupoto), who is known around the world for her portraits and digital art.

Reflecting on the winning artwork the judges said:

“The title and tūāpapa / foundation of Stevei Houkāmau's work invokes the whakatauaki (‘kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua’) which speaks of walking backwards into our future while keeping our eyes fixed on our past. Created in honour of Hinemaurea, this feminine work beautifully dances across the wall, reflecting the artist's command of the chosen media. Reminiscent of a necklace of touch stones, each individual bead is incised with patterns and tohu encoded with knowledge and completed with a raukura feather adornment at each end. The use of whatu raranga to bind the work together reflects how the artist has considered whakapapa connections as an integral aspect.

Masterful in its execution, this work can be installed in a multitude of ways, extending how it can be curated as a memory of tipuna. This exquisite taonga mounga excited us all, and we are thrilled that an uku artist receives the prestigious Kingii Tuheitia Portraiture Award, 2023.”

The runner-up and winner of the $2,500 second prize was awarded to Wellingtonian Ming Ranginui from Wellington for ‘Swept under the rug’ – a broomstick made from Muka and cotton pearl thread.

“The tupuna my work depicts is my Nanny Heeni Jayne Ranginui. Although not physically depicted I see this work as a depiction of my nan's labour and collectively our ancestors, and all they had to do to survive and keep our culture alive. Unfortunately, this meant often having to sweep things under the rug. Whether that be, us being forced to assimilate and sweep your own culture and language under the rug to survive or having your rights as a Māori swept under the rug by others. Like many, my nan grew up not being allowed to speak her reo in fear of punishment yet despite this she is the one in the family that keeps us connected to our whakapapa. She is my guiding Star.”

Jaenine Parkinson, Director of NZ Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata reflected on the two works that stood out most for the judges.

“Remarkably, both the winner and runner up of the Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award 2023 stretch definitions of portraiture. Neither use facial features, nor affect likeness, to evoke their chosen tupuna, both instead use powerful symbolism.

Stevei Houkāmau’s string of uku beads speaks to lines of descent in whakapapa. Ming Ranguinui’s “Swept under the rug” speaks of the unspoken and unseen toil of her kuia and many like her, yet also captures her Nan’s personal experience of attempts to have her culture, and who she is, swept under the carpet.

As an award open to entries in any media, it is fitting that both winning artists show excellence in conceptual depth and skilful execution in their chosen medium.”

The judges also gave honourable mentions to 5 artists including Tia Barrett, Michelle Estall, Tukiri Tini, Bobby Luke and Heramaahina Eketone.

The Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award exhibition will run at the New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakata in Shed 11 on Wellington’s waterfront from Thursday 25 May – Sunday 20 August. After this, the exhibition will be touring nationally. The public can also vote for their choice to win the People’s Choice Award – a cash prize of $2,500, announced at the close of the exhibition.

Further information on the award and exhibition can be found at nzportraitgallery.org.nz/kiingituheitiaaward

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