Tupuna

Ko tā tēnei raupapatanga he whakaatu i te mauri o Hine e kitea ana i ngā atua wahine a Hine-ahu-one, a Hine-tītama, a Hine-nui-te-pō. Ko te taitara o te raupapatanga ko *Hine Kua Oho – Woke Wahine*, he tohutoro i te ohonga mai o te ihi o te tinana, o te hinengaro, o te wairua i roto i ngā kōrero mō tēnā atua, mō tēnā atua.

He kaihanga mātātuhi, he mema tuatahi tonu o Toi Whakataa, a Vanessa Wairata Edwards. I ēnei mahi, kua whakatōpūhia te hangarau kōti taiaho me ngā tikanga raranga tuku iho. Ko te kōripiripi me te rangaranga ki roto i te āputa pango e karapoti ana i te kamio o waenganui, he mihi nā Edwards ki a Hine-te-iwaiwa, ko ia te kaitiaki o te whakawhānau tamaiti, o te raranga, o ngā mata o te marama. Kei te pupuri tonu ia i te kaupapa wahine, ā, kei te whakauru i ngā ata mōna ake ki roto i ēnei āhua o ngā tipua wahine.

This series represents the female essence of Hine as expressed by the lineage of tīpuna wāhine (female ancestors): Hine-ahu-one, Hine-tītama, Hine-nui-te-pō. The artist’s titling of the series, *Hine Kua Oho – Woke Wahine* refers to the awakening of consciousness in body, mind and spirit within the respective stories of these atua wāhine (goddesses).

Vanessa Wairata Edwards is a printmaker and founding member of Toi Whakataa – Māori Print Collective. In these works, she has combined laser-cut technology and customary weaving techniques. By slicing and weaving into the black space that surrounds the central cameo, Edwards pays tribute to Hine-te-iwaiwa, spiritual guardian of childbirth, weaving and the cycles of the moon. In keeping with this female lineage the artist incorporates images of herself in these depictions of tīpuna wāhine. (Toi Tū Toi Ora: Contemporary Māori Art, 2020)

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