Coming through

E ai ki ētahi, he ringa peita kaupapa tōrangapū ahau. Tēnā, ko ngā tōrangapū he momo tauoranga, he kaupapa mō te tangata: mō te wheako o te tangata.

– Emily Karaka

Kei te rongonui a Emily Karaka i āna toi peita uiraira, he mea pūkare. Ko te tākare o ngā apanga mata kaitara, he tohu mō tōna tāera peita ake, ā, he āhuatanga e taurite ana i te kaha o ngā karere tōrangapū e kawea ana e āna toi, me ngā whakapuakitanga whānui o roto. I hangaia e Karaka te *Coming Through*, 1983 i te tīmatanga o tāna rangahau i te hītori o ōna iwi e pā ana ki ngā takahanga o te Tiriti o Waitangi. Ko te tīmatanga o ngā wānanga o te Rūnanga Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi he wheako whakawhanake mā Karaka, ka mutu e kitea ana ngā hua i roto i āna mahi toi. Ko tā te Coming Through he whakatutuki i te kaupapa nui ake, ā, he tirohanga hōhonu ki te toi peita a Karaka. He māmā Māori hou, ā, ko tā taua toi he whakaatu i te mahi nui whakaharahara o te mahi hei māmā, o te manaakitanga hoki.

People see me as a political painter. Well politics is life, it is a comment on people: the experience of people.

– Emily Karaka

Emily Karaka is best known for her colourful expressive paintings. Exuberantly layered and textured surfaces are hallmarks of her painting style which is matched in intensity by the political messages the works carry and the wider statements they make. *Coming Through*, 1983 was created when Karaka first began exploring her tribal history in relation to breaches of Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi). It was the beginnings of Waitangi Tribunal hearings which were formative experiences for Karaka which she would go on to explore in her work. In this regard Coming Through represents the realisation of a bigger agenda and investigation in Karaka’s painting practice. As a young Māori mother it also signified the importance of motherhood and manaakitanga – the generosity and care for others.

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