Latest news with #KiingiTuheitiaPortraitureAward
RNZ News
a day ago
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
Photographing life around Ōpōtiki
The winner of the 2025 Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award Jazmin Tainui Mihi Paget-Knebel with her winning photo Taniwha Chasers. Photo: RNZ/Pokere Paewai Photographer Jazmin Tainui Mihi Paget-Knebel recently won the Kīingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award. The 22-year-old of Te Whānau a Apanui, Whakatōhea, Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Hine descent won for a striking frame of a child on horseback - and if you look at her instagram page you'll see many such insights into life around Ōpōtiki. She talks to Mihi and Susie.
NZ Herald
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award: Winning photo ‘reclaims narrative' for Māori amid cultural unrest
Her photo, part of a series called Taniwha Chasers, was chosen from 41 finalists and was announced in the presence of the Māori Queen, Kuini Ngā Wai hono i te pō, at Pipitea Marae in Wellington on Wednesday night. 'Ōpōtiki hasn't always had the most positive stories told about them to the media and I think it's really important for us Māori digital artists or people who work in this media-type space ... to be reclaiming those stories and reclaiming our narrative and telling them the way we want them to be told, and capturing the beauty of our small towns and our communities,' Paget-Knebel told the Herald. She said Taniwha Chasers was about representing her community 'and their resilience and us as a people'. 'Really embracing mana motuhake [self-determination, independence and sovereignty] and our strength.' Paget-Knebel said she wanted to focus on a Māori perspective for her photo. 'Our time is non-linear, so to photograph a rangatahi, it just shows that real deep connection with our tūpuna [ancestors] and to see our tūpuna in them.' She felt the picture was a 'timely piece with everything that's happening with this Government and the Toitū te Tiriti movement. I think it's a really great symbol of hope for our rangatahi. There's so much power within all aspects of our community.' Speaking on why she chose to enter that particular picture out of the others in the series, she said: 'There's just something about that photo, eh? 'The rangatahi's expression, it's so pure, and just the movement, this feeling of excitement but complete stillness. Yeah, it just fit the brief for me.' In her entry to the awards, she wrote that the photo also referred to an intimate connection shared between tangata, hōiho (horses) and their whenua. 'Māori have held a long and historic connection to horses as they were used as a tool to colonise Aotearoa but have since been reclaimed as part of our whakapapa. This image captures the intimate connection rangatahi Māori share with the wild horses of Ōpōtiki and how they are being used to uplift the mana of our community.' Paget-Knebel was born and raised in Ōmaio, a small coastal town near Ōpōtiki. She began taking photographs at the age of 12, and her interest in photography deepened after attending a five-day National Geographic photo camp in Murupara, where she learned alongside world-renowned photographers. She moved to Wellington four years ago to study photography at Massey University, and will complete her honours degree this year. She photographed the 2023 Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award and was later invited by the New Zealand Portrait Gallery to photograph the 2025 awards. Organisers were left scrambling to find a new photographer when Paget-Knebel unexpectedly became the winner of this year's award. She said she 'kind of just went silent' when she found out she had won. She was most excited to meet the Māori Queen, and said sharing a hongi with her at the awards 'made my entire year and more'. She was thinking about using some of her winnings to publish a book of her photo series, and was hopeful if there was some left over it could go towards her receiving her moko kauae later this year. The biennial award was established in 2020 to inspire a new generation of emerging Māori artists to create portraits of their tūpuna. This year's award attracted portraits using a wide range of mediums, including video, stop-motion puppetry, ceramics with pāua inlay, oil paintings and textiles made from linen, cotton and glass beads. The judges described the winning photo as uplifting and joyful, and captured 'the heart of our time'. 'It is full of hope and youthful energy, with a fresh perspective on connecting with our tūpuna and te taiao [the natural world]. We are all carried along with this young rider into a future that is increasingly uncertain. 'The young rider, his galloping horse, the raised flag and the brooding land all merge wonderfully to convey this powerful message ... For us judges, it was a unanimous choice. We all read the work the same way.' The runner-up, who wins $2500, was Maata-Maria Cartisciano from Waitārere Beach for Ekore koe e ngaro i tōku Koro, an acrylic and pencil portrait of her koro. The exhibition of pictures from the award is at the New Zealand Portrait Gallery on Wellington's waterfront until August 17. Entry is free.
Scoop
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scoop
Photograph Wins 2025 Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award
Jazmin Tainui Mihi Paget-Knebel from Ōpōtiki has been announced the winner of the 2025 Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award and a $20,000 cash prize. Jazmin's work Taniwha Chasers was chosen from an impressive 41 finalists with the Award being announced in the presence of the Māori Queen Kuini Nga wai hono i te po at Pipitea Marae in Wellington on Wednesday 21 May. Photographed in her hometown Ōpōtiki, Jazmin says Taniwha Chasers refers to the intimate connection shared between tangata, hoiho and their whenua. 'Māori have held a long and historic connection to horses as they were used as a tool to colonise Aotearoa but have since been reclaimed as part of our whakapapa. This image captures the intimate connection rangatahi Māori share with the wild horses of Ōpōtiki and how they are being used to uplift the mana of our community.' Jazmin, who affiliates with Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, Whakatōhea, Ngāpuhi, and Ngāti Hine, was born and raised in Ōmaio — a small coastal township located about 30 minutes from Ōpōtiki. Homeschooled throughout her upbringing, she began taking photographs at the age of 12. Her interest in photography deepened after attending a five-day National Geographic photo camp in Murupara, where she learned alongside world-renowned photographers. The 22-year-old moved to Wellington four years ago to study photography at Massey University and this year will complete her Honours degree in Photography. Jazmin says her work is centred around celebrating Māori/Indigenous culture through decolonising and re-indigenizing western ideologies and perspectives surrounding the lens to better her community and people. "I descend from the Paget bloodline that came from my Great-Grandmother, Tangimamao (Nee Patara) on my mother's side of my whanau. She had Whakapapa to the Iwi of Te Whānau-ā-Apanui and Whakatōhea. Her sons John Paget and Richard Paget went on to reside in Opōtiki which later become the birthplace of my mother, Heather Paget (daughter of John Paget). My whānau are the original inspiration for the creation of Taniwha Chasers as they were some of the first generations to ride horses in Ōpōtiki." In an uncanny turn of events, Jazmin served as the photographer for the 2023 Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award and was later invited by the New Zealand Portrait Gallery to photograph the 2025 awards. 'I never seriously considered entering the awards myself until this year. My friends kept encouraging me after seeing the photos I'd taken back home for a university assignment. I'm beyond excited to be the recipient of such an important award. It's an incredible honour, and I'm especially excited for rangatahi to see the work and learn about the history behind it.' The biennial Award was established in 2020 as a partnership between the New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata, and the late Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII to inspire a new generation of emerging Māori artists to create portraits of their tūpuna (ancestors). The 2025 Award is hosted and administered by the Gallery in his honour, with the blessing of Kuini Nga wai hono i te po. The award attracted portraits using a wide range of mediums including video, stop-motion puppetry, ceramics with paua inlay, oil paintings and textiles made from linen, cotton, and glass beads. The shortlisted artworks were chosen by a distinguished panel of judges, including contemporary Māori artist Dr. Areta Wilkinson (Ngāi Tahu), Head Carver for Waikato-Tainui Renta Te Wiata (Waikato-Ngāti Māhuta, Te Arawa - Ngāti Kea Ngāti Tuara), and leading painter John Walsh (Aitanga a Hauiti). Reflecting on the winning artwork the judges said: ' Taniwha Chasers is an uplifting, joyful, image that captures the heart of our time. It is full of hope and youthful energy, with a fresh perspective on connecting with our tupuna and te taiao. We are all carried along with this young rider into a future that is increasingly uncertain. The young rider, his galloping horse, the raised flag and the brooding land all merge wonderfully to convey this powerful message. The horse, once a symbol of colonization, has been reclaimed as part of our whakapapa and on-going struggle. The message is bright and clear, the composition is strong, the scale, and presentation are all striking. The work is in black and white, but you sense the richness of the scene. For us judges it was a unanimous choice, we all read the work the same way.' The runner-up and winner of the $2,500 second prize was awarded to Maata-Maria Cartisciano from Waitārere Beach for Ekore koe e ngaro i tōku Koro, an acrylic and pencil portrait of the artists koro (grandfather). The judges also gave honourable mentions to five artists - Shannon Te Rangihaeata Clamp, Divine Herekiuha, Jessica Hulme, Caitlin Jolley and Zoe Marler. The exhibition will open at the New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata in Shed 11 on Wellington's waterfront from Thursday, 22 May to Sunday, 17 August 2025. Entry is free. The public can also vote for their choice to win the Forsyth Barr People's Choice Award – a cash prize of $2,500, announced at the close of the exhibition. The finalists' artworks will then tour Aotearoa over the next two years.
Otago Daily Times
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Art provides an emotional link
Two artists from Dunedin, Māia Hetariki and Megan Brady, have been selected as finalists in the 2025 Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award. Rebecca Fox talks to them about their works and journeys. Māia Hetariki When Māia Hetariki saw the photograph of her dad, all smiles with a head full of dreadlocks, she knew it was the one. She had been searching for the right image or person to paint to enter the Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award since her teacher told her about it more than five years ago. A bit hesitant about the idea of entering — she was only 14 or 15 at the time — it remained at the back of her mind. So when she discovered the photograph of her father, Christie, she hoped it would translate well into a painting. "He just looks smiling and happy, and it's kind of a picture of him with this lovely image. I just thought that's wonderful. It's very him. His braids were cut off when I was 11, but it's a bit of a nostalgic-looking image, I think." Over a couple of weeks earlier this year, Hetariki who is from Nelson, worked on the portrait but it was not easy to paint. "It was quite a challenge, only because he's got a great big smile on his face and teeth. It's not that easy for painting a portrait. It can definitely look a little bit questionable if you don't quite get it right. Maybe it was up in the air for a few moments there." She found it nice to work with her father in that way and it reminded her how special it was to have a portrait of someone you love. "It's a really, really nice thing to have, and just present it the way it is. It's just something that will always be lovely for me and my family to have." When painting a portrait the person is always on your mind, even if working from a photograph. Her father was happy with the finished product. "So I think it's a special thing to have done and to get to have. And it's really cool that it's in this show. I wouldn't have entered it into any other show." It's also very different from other portraits she has done of her father. She used to get him to dress up in different costumes and posed him for different portraits. Her old friend Ruby also had the same fate — a portrait of her won the best portrait in the 2021 Tasman National Art Awards. "Over the last couple of years I've painted myself a lot. That's just because I'm convenient and that means I don't have to seek people to be my models. I've painted my partner a lot over the last few years, which I really enjoyed." Oils are Hetariki's paint of choice, something she has used for the past six years. Once she picked them up, she never put them down. "Mainly the texture, the shine. It's luscious and buildable and movable. Obviously it has an extended drying period so you have longer to play with it before it's set in stone. But mainly just being textural, glossy, lumpy aspects and lots of visible brushwork and textural reasons." She can quickly judge a painting — if she puts it aside and says she will come back to it, it is not likely. "It's going to be there when it's done or it's not going to happen. Once it starts, I'll be going hard for five days or until it's complete and then maybe I'll sit it away for a couple of weeks and just do a fresh eyes look." The drive to paint has always been with Hetariki who feels she has been painting all her life but "picked up speed" in her teens with the support of her parents. "It's a solitary activity which I quite enjoy. I do particularly like paint and using paint and being able to paint. It's particularly good." She started focusing on portraiture when she was young and had never found anything else as "intriguing" to paint. "I haven't got as invested in anything else really. I like people. I like looking at their faces." Moving to Dunedin with her partner who was studying here, Hetariki decided to enrol in art school last year and while she enjoyed the experience, she decided not to return this year and instead concentrate more on painting. "It wasn't necessarily the right time. The types of schools that I kind of fanaticised about are very traditional and kind of, I mean, a dream for me would just be to basically come and paint every day." This year she is continuing with the life drawing classes and working on her own projects including painting her laundry cupboard doors in a mural inspired by recent travels to Japan and the viewing of Japanese temple screen doors. "So I'm kind of excited to just get back with that theme at the top of the priority list again and do some online plant courses, tropical plant courses, because I've gotten a little bit obsessed with collecting plants over the last year or so." Megan Brady Tell us about the work you submitted to the Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award. I have been based in Ōtepoti for the past decade but in 2023, I relocated to Ōtautahi for six months to reconnect with and research my Kāi Tahu whakapapa. I made this hand tufted carpet work as a way to reflect on my process of reconnection during that time. Living at a distance from my tūrakawaewae prompted me to create a tangible place to think about the layers of relationship I am exploring within my practice, with place, with my ancestors, with myself. This work became that physical space. You tell me stories in the rockpools is centered on my tupuna Takaroa (Makutu), who I consider in three ways: expansive, close yet distant, and embodied. Takaroa is the atua (gods) of the sea, and also my great-great-great-grandmother. The ocean has and continues to be a constant and fundamental part of my life. I see this relationship I have with the moana being inextricably linked with that of my tāua (grandmother), as they are both anchors of connection and knowledge that guide me along my whakapapa journey. So this layering of a great atua, my recent ancestor, and my own lived experience with the ocean became central to developing this work. The piece imagines moments of encounter between my tāua and I across time and place. A recurring element in the work is the tracing of a significant pōhatu or stone that I found on my first visit to our ancestral awa, Rakahuri. After sharing my pepeha (introduction) with the river, a bone-white stone appeared in the shallows — a moment that felt very significant to me. I carried the pōhatu with me during the remainder of my time in Ōtautahi as a kaitiaki, and it came to represent a touchstone of connection — something physical that Takaroa herself may once have seen, touched, or passed by. The stone became a key detail I wanted to include in the work. I began tracing its outline, allowing those shapes to overlap, imagining time folding in on itself, and the two of us in company and kōrero with each other. There are six generations between us, so the work includes six overlapping forms. The idea of braiding — in reference to the braided awa Rakahuri on its journey to the sea — also became a conceptual and visual reference. When I returned to Ōtepoti at the end of that year, my dad returned the stone to our awa. I often think about where that pōhatu is now, and about the possibility of my mokopuna one day brushing past or noticing it in the waters too. Whakapapa itself is layered, interwoven, and continuous, and this work aims to reflect that. How is it made? This carpet has three layers. Hand-tufted wool on the top surface, a primary woven fabric nestled in the middle and a combination of latex and hessian underneath. All three of these layers are held together with a wool binding that wraps around the exterior. When making these works, the woven fabric is stretched across a frame. With a tufting machine I begin drawing with wool. Here, I am working vertically with the materials, kanohi ki te kanohi (face to face). I appreciate this mode of making as a form of relationship building with my work before it is laid down and engaged with in a more embodied way. Making carpet is laborious and physical mahi, but is a process I find a lot of satisfaction in. One of my favourite things about this work is how it functions. The carpet pile is thick, soft and inviting. It has these visceral qualities that instantly draw our bodies to the ground. I don't make many carpet works, but when I do, it's because of this magic that happens between material and method to create a space that can be activated and felt. I wanted to create a place to sit with Takaroa, and dream of the stories she might tell me. That closeness — to the ground, to water, to memory, to imagination — is fundamental to the work. The colour palette was informed by my memories of spending time in rock pools as a child — the jewel-like moments, where light is bouncing around, deep shadows are cast, and there are countless ever-changing speckles where the sea overlaps with the land in the shallows. These are tones of water and whenua meeting, which used to reflect a sense of gentle movement, layering and intimacy. How does the piece fit in your practice? This work continues and deepens my practice, which moves across sculpture, installation and textiles, and is grounded in site-responsive research and expressions of whakapapa. My work often explores how memory and identity are held within landscape, drawing from family history and personal archive. This piece aligns with that ongoing exploration — using materials and form to create a space where imagination and ancestral connection can meet. It reflects my commitment to fostering intimate relationships between people, place, and the stories that shape them. Why did you enter the competition? I had followed the award in 2023 and was in awe of the range of ways the artists had chosen to depict their tūpuna. Prior to that I wasn't sure my work had a place within the framework of portraiture, but this award offers such an expansive invitation to explore portraiture through any medium, and that openness felt like a compelling entry point for me. What I appreciate about the kaupapa of this award is that it acknowledges the richness of whakapapa and gives agency to tell stories of who we are and where we come from. Within te ao Māori, we descend from people and place. From land, mountains, rivers, and ocean. This competition honours all of those layers within the scope of portraiture. When I realised I had already made a work that spoke to these ideas, I felt excited to share it. I figured I had nothing to lose by entering the award — and potentially something really meaningful to gain. What was your reaction to becoming a finalist? I was simultaneously excited and grateful when I received the email about becoming a finalist for this award. I was at home alone, grinned a really big smile, did a little dance and blew a kiss to the shimmering water of the Otago Peninsula I am lucky to live by. My experience of working as an artist is that I am alone a lot of the time. When I got this news though, I felt really close to my tūpuna and in the company of many who are working to connect deeper to their whakapapa. And this made me feel really proud. The details 2025 Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award • A collaboration between the Office of the Kiingitanga and the New Zealand Portrait Gallery was launched in 2020 to inspire a new generation of emerging Māori artists to create portraits of their tūpuna (ancestors). • First Prize is $20,000, with the runner-up and People's Choice Award each offering $2500. • Entries were open to emerging Māori artists aged 35 and under. • Judges, including contemporary Māori artist Dr Areta Wilkinson (Ngāi Tahu), Head Carver for Waikato-Tainui Iwi Renta Te Waiata (Waikato-Ngāti Māhuta, Te Arawa-Ngāti Kea Ngāti Tuara), and leading painter John Walsh (Aitanga a Hauiti). To see: 2025 Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award, New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata, Wellington, until August 17. The finalists' artworks will then tour Aotearoa for two years.
RNZ News
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
Photographer wins 2025 Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award
The winner of the 2025 Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award Jazmin Tainui Mihi Paget-Knebel with her winning photo Taniwha Chasers. Photo: RNZ/Pokere Paewai Photographer Jazmin Tainui Mihi Paget-Knebel is showing her community of Ōpōtiki in a positive light by using her camera to document the mana of rangatahi. The 22-year-old of Te Whānau a Apanui, Whakatōhea, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine descent, won the 2025 Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award and a $20,000 cash prize. Paget-Knebel's work Taniwha Chasers was chosen from 41 finalists with the Award being announced in the presence of the Māori Queen Nga wai hono i te po at Pipitea Marae in Wellington on Wednesday. She said it was a surreal feeling to win the award and that she was already accomplishing one of her 2025 goals by meeting the Queen. "I just feel so grateful to be representing my community for such a prestigious award and just carry my whakapapa in this exhibition." Taniwha Chasers was her first project working in Ōpōtiki and she said getting to go home and shoot it has been her most fulfilling kaupapa. She focussed on photographing the horse culture that rangatahi (young people) have been practising in the town. "My cousin helped me gather a bunch of rangatahi and we went out to Hikuwai Beach which is just outside of Ōpōtiki, we had about ten maybe twenty kids on their horses and I was on the back of a ute going a bit too fast down the beach with them running behind us," she said. Taniwha Chasers winner of the 2025 Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award Photo: Supplied/Jazmin Tainui Mihi Paget-Knebel Paget-Knebel said she can't wait for her cousins back home to tune in to the award ceremony on Wednesday. "Ōpōtiki doesn't have the best reputation and to be showing my community in this light and bringing positivity and showing the mana of rangatahi and showing how they carry their mana motuhake is so important to be represented in the media and I'm just so grateful that I get to share this story." Paget-Knebel began taking photographs when she was 12, but became really invested at around 16 when she began to capture Māori practices with her camera. Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po is known to have a passion for photography as well and even took photos the Kiingitanga's social media pages before her accession as the Māori Monarch. "I was really nervous about talking to her, so now I have a topic of discussion," Paget-Knebel said. The Judges of the 2025 Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Awards, from left John Walsh, Dr. Areta Wilkinson and Renata Te Wiata. Photo: RNZ/Pokere Paewai The shortlisted artworks were chosen by a distinguished panel of judges, including contemporary Māori artist Dr. Areta Wilkinson (Ngāi Tahu), Head Carver for Waikato-Tainui Renata Te Wiata (Waikato-Ngāti Māhuta, Te Arawa - Ngāti Kea Ngāti Tuara), and leading painter John Walsh (Aitanga a Hauiti). Walsh said when he first saw Paget-Knebel's photograph his first thought was "that's a winner." "We all were basically thinking the same things.. it's so youthful and so energetic and hopeful," he said. Wilkinson said seeing the diversity of vision among the entrants is also important. "We really enjoyed the diversity of the media, we still look at them as images whether they're two dimensional or three dimensional [or] moving, and just how people are expressing their vision through that medium." The Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award was originally set up in collaboration between the Kiingitanga and the New Zealand Portrait Gallery as a competition to encourages young Māori artists to create portraits of their tūpuna (ancestors) in any medium. Te Wiata said it was a privilege to be involved with awards and he hoped that the memory of the late King is carried on through future Portraiture awards. "Our Kiingi he was a future thinker, he was a big advocate for the arts and this is just proof of that," he said. Jaenine Parkinson, the director of the NZ Portrait Gallery said the criteria for this year's awards were changed to reflect who Kiingi Tuheitia wanted the award to be for, that is young artists. They were saddened by the loss of Kiingi Tuheitia, but she said they are excited to work with the new Queen Nga wai hono i te po, who saw the award as an opportunity to carry on Kiingi Tuheitia's good works into the future. "So it carries his legacy, his hope and his aspirations for rangatahi Māori and it's meant that we have now an opportunity to work with Kuini Nga wai hono i te po herself and we're so excited to be welcoming her here," she said. Parkinson encouraged people to come down to the Gallery on Wellington's waterfront to view the portraits 'face to face with the tūpuna'. The public also has the chance to vote for the People's Choice award that will be chosen at the end of the exhibition. The exhibition will open at the New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata at Shed 11 on Wellington's waterfront from Thursday, 22 May to Sunday, 17 August 2025. Entry is free. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
