Untitled (study of a reclining nude woman)

Untitled (study of a reclining nude woman)

I hangaia te taonga nei e Shona Rapira Davies hei kura mo tāna ako i te tāreitanga me te whakaari i tū ki Te Whare Pīataata, e kīia nei ko ‘Mā te wahine ka tupu ai tō hanga nei, te tangata, mā te whenua ka whai oranga ai’.

I waenga i te whakaari, i pokepokea te tinana o te wahine ki te uku, ā, ka taiapatoa ki ngā tietie mānuka hei tohu i te tapu, e tohu hoki ana i te whai whakaaro ki ngā waiaro me ngā whanonga whakaiti ka pā ki ngā wāhine Māori mai i te pēhitanga a te Pākehā.

I utua te hanganga o te taonga nei e te whakaaturanga o Te Ao Hurihuri, i te tau 1987. I takatūngia e te ringatoi, e Kura Rewiri-Thorsen, te whakaaturanga, ā, i tūhuratia ‘ngā kaha i hua i te wahine Māori’. I whakaputaina te whakaaturanga hei hoa mō te whakaaturanga kete e kīia ana ko Ngā Taonga a o Tātou Kuia, i whakaritea e Te Rōpū Wāhine Māori Toko i te Ora hei whakanui i tā rātou hui-ā-tau.


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This drawing by Shona Rapira Davies was created as a study towards a sculptural installation and performance at the Govett-Brewster entitled 'Ma te wahine ka tupu ai to hanga nei, te tangata, ma te whenua ka whai oranga ai / Woman found raped, wrapped in a threadbare cloak'.

During the performance, a female form was sculpted in clay and framed with mānuka sticks to indicate tapu, acting as a strong comment on oppressive attitudes and behaviour towards Māori women that have been exacerbated since colonisation.

The work was commissioned for the 1987 exhibition Te Ao Hurihuri. Curated by artist Kura Rewiri-Thorsen, the exhibition explored the ‘strengths that arise out of being wāhine Maori’. The exhibition was produced to complement a concurrent exhibition of kete entitled Nga Taonga a o Tatou Kuia: The Treasures of our Grandmothers organised by the Māori Women’s Welfare League to celebrate their annual conference.

— Text developed for Te Hau Whakatonu: A Series of Never-ending Beginnings (5 August 2023–11 February 2024), curated by Taarati Taiaroa