The Kaiahuwhenua and his Three Sons

He reo ataata te kōwhaiwhai e kōrero ana mō te taiao me te whakapapa. Ko te kōwhaiwhai tētahi āhuatanga matua o te toi a Reuben Paterson i ngā tau 20 kua taha ake nei, ā, he rētōtanga tō tēnei hanganga kōripo i tua atu i te ātaahua o te wāhanga e kitea ai.

Kei te kitea te tāera korakora pīata a Paterson i roto i *The Kaiahuwhenua and His Three Sons*, 2001 – he toi i takea ai i te kōrero a te ringa toi mō te kōrero tara Wīwī nā Val Biro. Ko te kaupapa o tēnei kōrero, ehara i te mea ka hoatu poka noa ngā taonga tuku iho o ngā tīpuna, he mea e hura kē mai i te pāhekoheko me te pukumahi.

Kōwhaiwhai is a visual language that speaks of taiao (the natural world) and whakapapa (genealogy). Reuben Paterson has been actively engaging with kōwhaiwhai over the past 20 years, and there is a depth in this swirling composition beyond the allure of its glitzy surface.

Done in Paterson’s signature glitter style, *The Kaiahuwhenua and His Three Sons*, 2001 is based on the artist’s retelling of a French fable by Val Biro. The moral of this story is that the the gifts of your tīpuna (ancestors), and your heritage, are not given as such, but will become known through active engagement and hard work.

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

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