Obituary: Fred Graham, artist
Respected artist Fred Graham remained relevant right up until the end: a major new sculpture, Te Manu Rangimaarie, was unveiled at Taupiri just before his death. Graham (Ngāti Koroki Kahukura) had also just been chosen as one of the New Zealand artists to be part of this year's Venice Biennale international exhibition. Graham was born in South Waikato and was a talented rugby player, appearing three times for New Zealand Māori. He trained as a teacher and balanced education and art for most of his career. In 1966, he was a key figure in organising an exhibition of contemporary Māori painting and sculptures, with the likes of Cliff Whiting and Paratene Matchitt. Graham's sculptures are displayed around New Zealand and also in several overseas galleries. Graham was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Māori art in 2018, and later that year he was named an Arts Foundation Icon. In the 2025 New Year Honours, Graham was promoted to Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. He is survived by his children Gary, Brett, a successful sculptor and artist, and Kathryn, a television and podcast producer. Fred Graham died on May 9 aged 96. — APL/agencies
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Scoop
a day ago
- Scoop
Te Ao Māori Steps Onto The World Expo Stage Once Again; Carries The Full Force Of Mana Motuhake O Te Ao Māori
More than 70 Māori delegates from Aotearoa are arriving in Osaka to celebrate Te Aratini: Indigenous Peoples Week at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai from 4–10 August 2025. They will be joined by over 170 Indigenous representatives from across the globe. 'This global delegation is a declaration that Indigenous Peoples are not peripheral to global conversations. We are central to its future,' says Ngahiwi Tomoana, Kaihautū for Te Aratini. From Aotearoa, iwi leaders and Māori executives to performing artists and entrepreneurs, this dynamic Māori delegation embodies the diversity, determination and vitality of our living culture. More than $1 million NZD has been collectively invested through self-funded travel, direct contributions, and the gift of our delegates' time, affirming a shared commitment to a kaupapa that stretches across oceans, generations, and worldviews. 'Our people are not waiting to be invited. We are investing in our own future, standing in our own sovereignty, and carrying the weight of our tīpuna with us,' proclaims Tomoana, echoing the sentiments he voiced at Expo 2020 Dubai: 'Māori will be at every World Expo, whether or not Aotearoa has an official presence.' Five years in the making, Te Aratini builds upon its successful launch at World Expo 2020 Dubai. Formidable partners from Japan's Playground of Life: Jellyfish Pavilion, Australia and Canada have generously shared their spaces on the world stage, grounded in an Indigenous ethic of connection and care. This next chapter would not have been possible without the foresight and advocacy of Professor Kenji Yoshida, Senior Cultural Adviser to Expo 2025 Osaka, and Professor Emeritus and former Director-General of the National Museum of Ethnology and Japan's Thematic Project Producer 'Invigorating Lives' Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Sachiko Nakajima. Reflecting on these pivotal relationships, Tomoana shares: 'We travel to Japan as manuhiri and acknowledge the Ainu people as an Indigenous Peoples of Japan, joining in shared spirit and mindful of the deep tikanga and kawa that shape our engagement. Each delegate is an ambassador. Together, we are future-focused, frontier-exploring, and fiercely Indigenous,' explains Tomoana. 'Through the vision of Professor Yoshida and our friends in Japan, doors began to open. Through his advocacy, we established an early connection to Sachiko Nakajima and laid the foundation for Te Aratini: Indigenous Peoples Week . Our relationship is built on shared purpose and the belief that Indigenous voices belong at the heart of the global conversation.' Building on that foundation, Professor Yoshida and Sachiko Nakajima recognised that the week of 4– 10 August, culminating in the United Nations International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples (9 August), would offer the most powerful and resonant moment to honour and elevate Indigenous Peoples globally through Expo. Te Aratini invites the world into a future where Indigenous values of reciprocity, responsibility, and relationality are remembered and reimagined at scale. Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Nanaia Mahuta, also joins the delegation to support this kaupapa. Mahuta was an instrumental partner in the inaugural Te Aratini: Festival of Indigenous & Tribal Ideas at Expo 2020 Dubai, and an advocate for continued engagement between Te Aratini and Japan in the years leading up Expo 2025 Osaka. 'Te Aratini is a unique opportunity to promote Indigenous-to-Indigenous relations and cross-cultural diplomacy. During this time of significant geo-political tension Indigenous Peoples provide a different advantage to promote peace, prosperity and planetary wellbeing. I look forward to promoting the Tauhokohoko a research project, which is designed to inform Indigenous trade policy" said Mahuta. For Tomoana, 'Expo is not the destination, it's the waka. And we are paddling together toward futures forged in tino rangatiratanga, mana motuhake, and whanaungatanga. Tū Māori mai, e te iwi. The world is watching. And we are ready!' Programme Highlights: Across the week, Te Aratini partners will deliver a compelling programme of events that honour Indigenous ingenuity, cultural resurgence, economic aspiration and leadership. Monday 4 August: Te Aratini launches at the Australia Pavilion with keynote speakers including Australia's Ambassador for First Nations People, Justin Mohamed, Hon. Nanaia Mahuta, Canada's High Commissioner to New Zealand, Keith Smith, and Indigenous Partnership Council members of the Indigenous Peoples Economic and Trade Cooperation Arrangement (IPETCA). Performances will feature Kahurangi Māori Dance Theatre, Baka people from Cameroon, First Nations performers from Australia, and Indigenous musicians from Canada. Tuesday 5 August: The day begins with a Water Ceremony led by Elder Gerard Sagassige (Curve Lake First Nation, Canada) and concludes with Confluence, a performance showcase curated by Canada's National Arts Centre at Expo 2025 Osaka's EXPO Hall (Shining Hat), celebrating the diversity and unity of global Indigenous voices. Wednesday 6 August: Focuses on dialogue across Indigenous economies, trade, and intellectual property, and features a cross-cultural collaboration between Indigenous musicians and performers at Life Plaza. 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The day will conclude with a celebratory evening at the Australian Pavilion, featuring a special menu of canapés created by a leading First Nations guest Chef.
The Spinoff
2 days ago
- The Spinoff
How two ‘elderly aunties', Robin White and Gaylene Preston, made a film together
One dame said to another dame, 'I could make a film about you'. This Sunday a quietly powerful observational documentary, Grace: A Prayer for Peace, is premiering at the NZ International Film Festival. In the film, renowned painter and printmaker Robin White pours natural pigment over bark cloth with a group of collaborators in a parking lot, eats peaches in her home, and figures out the direction of new works in Japan and Kiribati. A particularly arresting moment begins with White looking over a series of her now-iconic landscapes from the 1970s which made her a key figure in the regionalist movement of 20th-century New Zealand art. Buildings, cars and mountains are flattened and stylised. White looks at them and says, 'this is me as a young painter trying to figure out how to paint'. Now, White is one of New Zealand's most significant living artists, with a career spanning 50 years and counting. In 2003 she was appointed a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to painting and printmaking. In 2009 this became Dame Companion. There's another renowned dame behind the camera too – Gaylene Preston. She is known for presenting serious subjects with humour, warmth and compassion and for a dedication to New Zealand film and New Zealand subjects, particularly artists. In Grace, White is relaxed and open, as if she's known the person behind the camera forever. In fact, it was through the film that the two dames came to know each other. Now, they talk like old friends, finishing each other's reminiscences and memories. So how did it all happen? Gaylene Preston: Rita Angus put us together. I was at the opening of a Rita Angus retrospective at Te Papa in 2021. I'd had a head injury. I was avoiding noisy public places. I decided to go, but I didn't think I'd last very long. When everyone was getting a cup of tea, I saw Robin was sitting at a table over from me. I looked at her, and I thought, if that's Robin White, I want to tell her what a brilliant painter she is, and that I love Summer Grass. So I went over, I introduced myself, and I found myself saying, 'Well, I've made a film about Rita Angus, and I've made a film about Hone Tuwhare, and I've made a film about Keri Hulme. I could make a film about you.' I heard it come out of my mouth, and while I didn't disagree with it, I couldn't believe I'd said that. At that time, I had given up filmmaking. I'd had a really nasty concussion for some years, so I thought my filmmaking days were over, and here I was telling Robin White that I'd make a film. Robin White: Well, I'm looking at this woman who introduced herself and thinking, oh my gosh, this is Gaylene Preston, I know who you are. This is a real honour. I felt hugely privileged to be approached by this lady, but at the same time I'm looking at Gaylene and thinking, gosh, lady, I don't know if you're you – are you OK? Hopefully, my natural politeness kicked in. I can't remember how I responded. I didn't know at this point that you'd had this head injury, but I instinctively felt there was something about this lady, that she's not herself. There was something about you, Gaylene. But I knew this is a solid lady. This is not a flake. I'm dealing with a woman with a formidable reputation for doing stuff. It left me thinking there was more to talk about. These things require time and conversation. At the back of my mind, I'm thinking, park it for a time when we can be face to face and revisit this, which is what happened, wasn't it, Gaylene. Preston: I was very grateful for that, because I wasn't in the shape to be making a film. It was a full year later that we got together to talk about what a film might be. White: In December the following year I was driving up to Auckland with all my gear packed, getting ready for a period of working collaboratively with Ebonie Fifita and Falehanga 'o Laka. I was going to be in Wellington just briefly, so I got in touch with you. I think one of the first things I said to you when we finally had that coffee on Cuba Street is that I wasn't really interested in a film about me, but what I thought might be more purposeful, more useful in the bigger scheme of things, would be a film that addressed the idea of artists working collaboratively. Preston: Film is a highly collaborative medium. So making a film about artistic, creative collaboration, particularly a collaboration of making big, huge, messy bark cloth work with a group of women, is immediately very interesting for a filmmaker. White: It all just went 'click, click, click' from there. But it wasn't until the beginning of January 2023 that you came to Laka where we were working, is that right? Preston: Robin, Ebonie and Ruha Fifita were working at an art space on Onehunga Mall, which I was familiar with. My camera was broken so I filmed on my phone. In my mind, I was really doing research, and I would go and get the real money to make a real film with a real film crew and high quality cameras later. We did use some very high range cameras filming Robin's retrospective, but I found once we hit the edit, there was a real lively intimacy to what I had originally filmed. I don't think documentaries are all about swanky camera work. The material I thought I was shooting for research turned out to be more valuable than I thought. I'm still shooting. I have to keep shooting until the big Kiribati painting is finished. I'm painting a globally important artist painting a big master work. So why would I stop just because I've delivered my feature film? That'd be silly, wouldn't it? White: People have asked me what it was like being filmed. In some of those sequences which are quite intimate and personal and emotional I was unaware of the presence of a camera. I suppose fly on the wall is not a bad description. I didn't feel nervous. Partly that's to do with trusting a fellow artist who has this amazing history of creativity. The other thing is that the context of collaborative art making is a context of a busy social environment, a lot of comings and goings, a lot of discussion, a lot of very open conversations about what is being done, the decision making, the critiquing of things. It's very different from the – quote, unquote – Western notion of the artist alone and being very protective and very secretive. Preston: The job is to be as unobtrusive as possible – that's the filmmaking tradition I come from, and that relates right back to Barry Barclay making Tangata Whenua in 1974. If you're making a film, an observational documentary about something, if you intrude, you've just lost what you're there to do. Robin and I were getting to know one another more deeply through this time. We didn't know one another before, but once we met, we had so many things in common. We've both been to art school, and we both came up through the public school system in New Zealand after the war, when everything was for the kiddies. It was child-based, play-based, art-based, primary education. Fortunately, we had a very progressive education. We're the art room people, that's what we share, isn't it Robin. White: Yeah, possibly for different reasons. I found primary school was a very lonely experience for me. I didn't enjoy going to school at all. I was much happier just at home, just doing whatever at home, but once I got to intermediate school, there was an art room with a dedicated art teacher, so I found my place. It feels like there's also a lot in common about the way we've proceeded in our careers. Maybe it's to do with commitment and a certain fearlessness, risk taking, in a world which if not openly hostile, is at least not all that encouraging for women. I don't have anything too much to complain about in that regard, but maybe because I'm just so bolshie. Preston: I've got a reputation for being bolshie, but I think I'm really kind of pleasant. In the end I'm not just gonna do something because I think that's what the market wants. In Aotearoa, we have made very few films about artists, and yet in this year's festival, there's three or four and they're made by women, incidentally. But they've been famously hard to fund. Mainstream networks aren't screening films about artists, let alone New Zealand artists. It took me 30 years to get the money to make a film about Rita Angus. They just kept saying, 'No, we don't do dead artists, thanks.' That's New Zealand culture for you. Anyway, we knew a few people in common from the old days, and we know the same songs that weren't necessarily known by the others because they were too young. We were having these conversations, having a great old gossip, and the others really liked listening in.
Otago Daily Times
2 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Escape the world into the shire
The game centres around the business of making hearty meals. Just when you thought the Lord of the Rings product train had run out of steam, Wētā Workshop has more, Bill Hickman writes. Wētā Workshop has released a new video game that allows players to build their own home in a Hobbit village in Middle Earth. Tales of the Shire is billed as a "cosy game" providing a calmer, more meditative experience than the frenetic pace of traditional video games. Players create Hobbit characters — from choosing the possessions that adorn their Hobbit-hole homes to selecting the extent of hair on their little feet. The Hobbit avatars move about in a picturesque Middle Earth world buffeted by seasonal winds and are guided by birds as they tend to their gardens, fish, cook and interact with other townsfolk. Wētā Workshop founder Sir Richard Taylor said as the world emerged from the height of the pandemic, it made sense to create a game that was a departure from the conflict and drama that fuelled much of the Lord of the Rings films. "Tolkien described The Shire as Warwickshire circa 1890 type of world. This is pastoral England, this is beautiful days of slashing down the corn in the fields and harvesting, making hearty meals for your family," Taylor said. He said the game's look was purposely designed to emphasise the beauty and calm of the idyllic setting that was home to the Hobbits. The Shire is pastoral England, Warwickshire circa 1890. "We wanted to create a wonderfully, painterly watercolour world so it felt like you were stepping into a living picture, dotted with trees and hobbit holes," Taylor said. Game studio director Tony Lawrence said, at its peak, 54 people collaborated on the game, working out of Wētā's Miramar workshop as well as from Italy, Australia and California. The game's creators were able to draw on the studio's 25 years of bringing Middle Earth to life to add authenticity to the settings and activities players encountered, he said. "If there's a question about Lord of the Rings we've quite a few experts just lurking around the place that can help us with anything. If we wanted to understand how a character might make a sword, having a master sword [maker] onsite is pretty good to come watch. They're the kind of things that you can't do anywhere else in any other studio," Lawrence said. Lawrence said the government's rebate for game developers was an important factor in helping Wētā take the time to develop the game's detail and depth. — RNZ
