Kei Mate Mangopare

*Kia mate mangopare, kei mate wheke*

Ka whakapuakina tēnei whakataukī rongonui nō Ngāti Porou hei whakaū i ngā pūkenga whawhai o te mangōpare ki roto i ngā toa e haere ana ki te pakanga. Kei te tino mōhiotia te manawanui, te māia, te aumangea, o te mangōpare. Kei roto i *Kei Mate Mangopare*, 2011 kei te kitea te mangōpare tāoreore e kauhoe ana i ngā rangi o te kāinga tupu o te ringa toi, arā ko Māngere, ko te Wahapū o Manukau i Tāmaki Makaurau ki te Tonga. Ko te tokomaha me te hāereere mutunga kore he aronga tahi ki te wheako Māori nō te taone. E ai ki a Hollis, kei te whakaata te mangōpare i tōna papakāinga, me te mānakonako – he mānakonako ki te hoki atu ki tōna tūrangawaewae i Te Tairāwhiti. Ko *Kei Mate Mangopare* he kōrero mō tetahi mokopuna mokeomoke rawa e noho ana ki te tāonenui a Tāmaki Makaurau.

*Kia mate mangopare, kei mate wheke*

Don’t die like an octopus, die like a hammerhead shark

This famous Ngāti Porou whakataukī (proverb) was customarily recited to engender the fighting qualities of the mangopare (hammerhead shark) within warriors as they prepared for battle. The mangopare is renowned for its persistence, strength and resilience. In *Kei Mate Mangopare*, 2011 animated mangopare swim through the skies of the artist’s neighbourhood – Mangere and Manukau Harbour in South Auckland. Their abundance and relentless roaming casts a spotlight on an urban Māori experience. For Hollis, the mangopare reflected his rural homelands and a desire – a longing to return to the East Coast region of his upbringing. *Kei Mate Mangopare* is the story of a homesick mokopuna (descendant) living in the wilderness of urban Auckland.

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

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