Waitangi Rosary

Kei te hoki atu te *Waitangi Rosary*, 2007 ki Te Tiriti o Waitangi. I hangaia te *Waitangi Rosary* hei urupare ki te kaupapa whakatutū puehu, arā ki te Ture Principles of the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Deletion Bill i whakatakotoria ki mua i te aroaro o te komiti whiriwhiri i te tau o 2006, ā, kei te tāpaetia tētahi ara hei huritao i te nui whakaharahara o te Tiriti o Waitangi i tēnei rā; kei te whakarōpūhia e ai ki ngā kaupapa o ngā ‘Mahi a te Karauna’ e putaputa mai ai i roto i te hītori o Aotearoa mai i te hainatanga i te tau 1840.

Kitea ai ngā kuputuhi me ngā kupu angarua, i ngā toi a Robert Jahnke. Kei te whakamahia ngā āhuahanga reo, āhuahanga ataata hoki, hei tūhura i ngā āhuatanga tīkokikoki a te reo. Pērā i ngā rōhi rino nei, he taumaha, he māngohe ngā āhuatanga tohu. He tohu tēnei mō Maria Takakau, mō te hekenga toto o Ihu Karaiti, o te aroha, o te kīngitanga, o te Kuini Irihapeti o nāianei. Kua āta whakaritea te Waitangi Rosary hei huritaonga mā te tangata.

*Waitangi Rosary*, 2007 revisits New Zealand’s founding document Te Tiriti o Waitangi – the Treaty of Waitangi. Created in response to the contentious Principles of the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Deletion Bill that went before a select committee in 2006, *Waitangi Rosary* offers a pathway to contemplate the importance of Te Tiriti o Waitangi today by recasting ‘Crown Acts’ into underlying themes that have played out in New Zealand history since its signing in 1840.

Text and wordplay are regular features of Robert Jahnke’s works. He uses linguistic and visual forms to reveal the unstable nature of language. Like the lead these roses are cast in, their symbolism is heavy and malleable. Symbolic of the Virgin Mary, the spilling of Christ’s blood, human love, kingly power and in the present day, Queen Elizabeth. *Waitangi Rosary* is purposefully paced to invite reflection.

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

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