Dr Rangihiroa Panoho

Dr Rangihiroa Panoho

Auckland, AUCKLAND

My visual practice grows out of my background as a Foundational Māori Curator & Māori Art Historian .

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T Ā N E I, 2023, Tāne Motumotu series by Dr Rangihiroa Panoho Image: TĀNE I, 2023
TĀNE I, 2023
T Ā N E I, 2023, Tāne Motumotu series by Dr Rangihiroa Panoho Image: E mihi ana a Chloe ki Rangihīroa mo taku kōrero 'Talking to Trees' Mt Albert Library Tāmaki Makaurau 5 July 2023
T Ā N E I, 2023, Tāne Motumotu series by Dr Rangihiroa Panoho Image: 'Punga and Concrete platform, St Lukes'. The four photographs used to compliment the kaupapa of the show were taken inside St Lukes and its environs. They, to some extent, demonstrate the idea of botanical islands surrounded by concrete and tarseal to which the exhibition title 'Tāne Motumotu' alludes.
T Ā N E I, 2023, Tāne Motumotu series by Dr Rangihiroa Panoho Image: 'St Lukes Carpark looking towards the ramp'
T Ā N E I, 2023, Tāne Motumotu series by Dr Rangihiroa Panoho Image: St Lukes Carpark looking east'
T Ā N E I, 2023, Tāne Motumotu series by Dr Rangihiroa Panoho Image: 'St Lukes Carpark from its highest point looking towards Maunga Ōwairaka'

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TĀNE MOTUMOTU exhibition, 1-17 July 2023, sponsored by Albert/Eden Neighbourhood Arts and hosted by the Mt Albert Library. A kōrero 'Talking to Trees' was given at Mt Albert Library, AUCKLAND, 5 July 2023. The video link to the talk is provided on this site. 'Tane Motumotu' considers the redefined presence of Tāne in Aotearoa. Motumotu suggests that ngāhere ‘native forest’ is no longer the unifying presence (i.e. see the unifying concept of Tāne whakapapiripiri) it once was in Aotearoa. If one wishes to see greater natural diversity found in ngāhere horomata ‘virgin forest’ one now has to travel to DoC or tribally controlled regions where forest is being protected from human exploitation and from introduced animal and plant pests. Locally Aucklanders may cultivate a native tree in their garden or backyard for their pleasure or as boundary hedges. We might see large native specimens in historic places, in parks, or road verges plantings or even in shopping centres but the unbroken diversity and the natural canopy once provided by Tāne has now largely gone. The small collection of native plant derived imagery in Tāne Motumotu is an attempt to connect the library visitor with native plants and the natural world outside. It specifically targets native Māori plants seeking to raise awareness not only of the neighbourhood natives but of the beauty and fragility of the wider ecosystem, the need to be connected to nature and notions of containment and freedom. Tāngata whenua whakapapa to the trees, birds, insects and other living forms in the world of Tāne. The point of the show is that it raises an awareness in the viewer that they too might connect or be connected.

  • Dr Rangihiroa Panoho
  • T Ā N E I, 2023, Tāne Motumotu series
  • Water-based printing ink and acrylic ink on cotton paper
  • 1089 x 1032 in
  • Inv: TĀNE1_KukupaInForest1032
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In Māori cosmology TĀNE is a key figure, he is connected with all natural forms found under the forest canopy and is referred to as ātua of the ngāhere. He has numerous names which acknowledge his importance in Māori culture. He is the child who agrees with his brothers to separate the primal parents Rangi 'skyfather' and Papatūaknuku 'earthmother'. He is the one who climbs the twelve heavens to procure knowledge 'ngā kete e toru' for mankind. The forest scene here makes the point that the presence of TĀNE is in the very nature of the living forms within the forest, the rau 'leaves' of the rākau rangatira 'chiefly trees' and the birds that eat the fruits of the forest and spread the seed. The kūkū 'native wood pigeon' is one such bird. Throughout Polynesia it is acknowledged as the distributor of seed that helps regenerate the forest.

The process used in this painting involves the eco-sourcing of native leaves from my own propogation. When pruning the trees there is an opportunity to use the leaves.

Other Work From Dr Rangihiroa Panoho

E Tū by Dr Rangihiroa Panoho
He Mauri, exhibition title piece, window frontage MODAL House, 845 New North Rd, Mt Albert by Dr Rangihiroa Panoho
Ōwairaka by Dr Rangihiroa Panoho
T Ā N E V, 2023 by Dr Rangihiroa Panoho
T Ā N E III by Dr Rangihiroa Panoho
T Ā N E II Tropical Garden, 2023, TĀNE MOTUMOTU exhibition by Dr Rangihiroa Panoho
T Ā N E IV, 2023, 815 x 805mm, collection: artist by Dr Rangihiroa Panoho
Ngāpuhi Kowhao Rau I by Dr Rangihiroa Panoho
Ngāpuhi Kōwhao Rau II by Dr Rangihiroa Panoho
Reimagining the New Zealand Land Wars (1), 16 July 2020 by Dr Rangihiroa Panoho
See all artwork from Dr Rangihiroa Panoho