Hinepukohurangi

Kei te marae, arā kei roto i te wharenui kua whakairohia ngā poupou hei whakaatu i ngā tūpuna. Ko tā te raupapatanga Digital Marae a Lisa Reihana, he tohu i te ata hāpara o te mahi toi Māori. Hangaia ai e Reihana tāna tauira ake o te wāhi tupuna tapu ki ngā āhua mō ngā wāhine whai mana nō tōna whakapapa, he tāngata, he tipua. Ko tēnei ko Hinepūkohurangi, he tipua nō Ngāi Tūhoe, e kōrewa haere ana ki runga ake i ngā kapua. Ko Hinepūkohurangi te whaiāipo o Uenuku, nāna i kimi te huarahi ki te pupuri i a ia ki Papatūānuku. Kāore i tutuki taua wawata ōna, heoi anō kitea rawa ake ia: i tōna matenga ka huri ia hei kahukura e puta mai ai i te taha o te kohu.

At marae (communal spaces) inside the wharenui (meeting house), ancestors take the form of carved figures known as poupou. Lisa Reihana’s *Digital Marae* series, begun just after the turn of the 21st century, heralded a new direction in Māori art. Reihana constructs her own version of the sacred ancestral space with images of powerful women – both human and mythical – who are part of her heritage. This work shows the mist maiden Hinepūkohurangi, a Ngāi Tūhoe goddess, who is depicted floating up above the clouds. Hinepūkohurangi was the lover of Uenuku, who tried to trick her to remain on earth. Uenuku lost his love, but would eventually find her again: after his death he became the rainbow that accompanies the mist.

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