Untitled

Ko Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki te kaupapa e putaputa mai ai i ngā toi a Paratene Matchitt mai i te tekau tau o 1960. Ka whakarautia a Te Kooti ānō nei he tūtei i te tau 1866, ā, ka mauheretia ia i Rēkohu, ka rere atu ai i te marama o Hurae, i te tau 1868. Ka aruarutia rātou ko ōna kaitautāwhi e ngā hōia koroniara, ā, he maha ngā kauhanga riri, heoi kāore a Te Kooti i hopukia. Murua rawa atu ia i te tau 1883.

I tēnei raupapatanga kua urutau e Matchitt ngā āhuahanga tūrehurehu Māori o te whakairo, te tāniko, te kōwhaiwhai, te tukutuku, hei hanga i tōna reo hoahoa whakawaihanga ake. Ko te hanganga a Matchitt he mea e ōrite ana ki te tikanga peita tangata pūkare i mahia ai e Te Kooti rātou ko ōna kaitautāwhi i te tekautau o 1870. Kitea atu ai ngā tohu mō te poropiti me āna kōrero huri noa i ngā rīanga. Kei runga i te rīanga tuatahi ko te Maunga o Tarawera – ko tōna hūnga i te tau 1886, he matakite nō Te Kooti. Kitea ai i roto i te rīanga tuarua me te rīanga tuawhā, te poropiti me tōna hōiho mā – he hōiho e rongonui ai i ōna kaha tupua hei āwhina i a Te Kooti ki te rere atu.

Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki has been a subject for Paratene Matchitt since the 1960s. Arrested as a spy in 1866, Te Kooti was imprisoned on Rēkohu (the Chatham Islands), but escaped in 1868. He and his followers were pursued by colonial forces and many clashes ensued, yet Te Kooti evaded capture. He was pardoned in 1883.

In this series Matchitt has adapted abstract forms from the traditions of whakairo (carving), tāniko (weaving), kōwhaiwhai (rafter painting) and tukutuku (lattice work panels) to develop a unique graphic language. Matchitt’s innovation is in keeping with the radical figuratve painting tradition developed by Te Kooti and his followers in the 1870s. Key signifers include the volcano Mount Tarawera, whose eruption in 1886 was prophesied by Te Kooti and the figures of the prophet himself and his white horse, which assisted Te Kooti in evading government troops on many occasions.

(Toi Tū Toi Ora: Contemporary Māori Art, 2020)

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