Call for Kiingi Tuheitia entries
Chance for emerging Māori artists to shine
Entries for the 2023 Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award are now invited. The award, a partnership between the New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata and the Office of the Kiingitanga, was launched in 2020 in honour of Kiingi Tuheitia to inspire a new generation of emerging Māori artists to create portraits of their tūpuna [ancestors].
Artists are given an opportunity to showcase their talent on the national stage while competing for a first-place prize of $20,000.
The runner-up and People's Choice award provide $2500, respectively.
Entries are open to emergingMāori artists who have either created an artwork within the last two years, or wish to create an artwork especially for the competition, using any visual medium, with whakapapa connections to the depicted tūpuna.
The finalist artworks will be judged by a distinguished panel comprising renowned artists at the opening of the exhibition. These include Māori multi-disciplinary portrait artist Graham Hoete, aka “Mr G”; Māori researcher, artist, arts educator and curator Steve Gibbs; and artist Lisa Reihana, who is known around the world for her portraits and digital art.
Director of the New Zealand Portrait Gallery, Jaenine Parkinson, says the award provides emerging Māori artists with the opportunity to showcase their talents on the national stage, while also playing an important role in recording and celebrating tūpuna and their stories.
The inaugural award was held in 2021, and winner Bodie Friend says it wasa life-changingmomentfor him.
“Reflecting back, it was such a blessing to be selected for the award, but just being involved in the kaupapa and connecting with other Māori artists from around the country was a profound and amazing experience for me.
“Having my artwork sit shoulderto-shoulder with some of my favourite artists and having it featured in a published programme is mindblowing for me, and it has given me the confidence to continue to move and explore my creativity and identity as a Māori artist.
“The more Māori artists are given the opportunity to shine, the better [ . . . ] for our culture, but it also inspires others like me who might be there thinking they can't, why bother, or that no-one cares about what they have to share. Kāo, share. In saying that, they also need a platform, an advocate, and that's why the Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award is so important.”
The exhibition of finalist artworks will be showcased in Te Whanganuia-Tara at The New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata, on Thursday, May 25 to Sunday, August 20. Finalist artworks will then tour the country.
Entries close on March 23, 2023 and the winners will be announced at the exhibition opening on Wednesday, May 24, 2023.
An information pack on how to enter is available to download from nzportraitgallery.org.nz/ kiingituheitiaaward.