Rachael Rakena

Name
Rachael Rakena
Iwi/Ethnicity
Ngāi Tahu/Kāi Tahu/Māori
Ngāpuhi/Māori
Date of birth
1969
Place of birth
Wellington (region)/New Zealand
Gender
Female
Biography
Rachael Rakena has been exhibiting and developing a form of distinctively Māori video art practice for over 20 years.

During her fine arts studies at Otago Polytechnic, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, she was attracted to computer art and moving-image technologies, which foregrounded her collaborative art practices. While at Otago, she completed a degree in Māori studies, and helped establish Kāi Tahu Whānau ki Araiteuru, a group committed to the revitalisation of Ngāi Tahu narrative, tikanga (customs) and kawa (ceremony).