He kotuku rerenga tahi — remembering Maata Wharehoka

E te pou o te Whare Piata
E te pou o Parihaka 
E te pou o Taranaki maunga
E te pou o Tainui waka o Ngāti Teihinga, Ngāti Mahanga
E te pou o Takitimu waka o Ngāti Ranginui ki Tauranga moana me ōna hapū.

Ko ngā kaupapa nui i kawea mai koe tae atu ki te Kahu Whakatere kua rewa nei kōrua ko Te Rukoriri Wharehoka ka mau ake tonu atu.

Tōna mutunga he kuia, he māmā ki o tamariki ki o mokopuna ko rātou tō āpōpō.

The Govett-Brewster Art Gallery | Len Lye Centre acknowledges with great sadness the passing of kuia Maata Wharehoka (Ngāti Tahinga, Ngāti Koata, Ngāti Apakura, Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Kuia).

An expert weaver, kaitiaki of Te Niho o Te Atiawa - Parāhuka marae at Parihaka Papakāinga, and lifelong advocate for Māori health, the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery was honoured to have Maata as a dear friend. Over many years, Maata shared with the Gallery whānau knowledge of and guidance in Te Ao Māori, generously welcomed us to Te Niho on many occasions, and extended understanding of the importance of Parihaka and its legacy during which strong bonds were created. Maata helped keep the Gallery and individuals accountable in our ongoing efforts to grow in partnership with Mana Whenua and build insight into the aspirations of those who belong to this place.

Maata’s relationship with the Gallery unfolded over nearly two decades. She collaborated with, hosted and shared with numerous artists, and offered her kōrero with audiences at the Gallery on multiple occasions. In 2011, Maata and Te Wai Hohaia collaborated with artist Pinaree Sanpitak on the project Breast Stupa Cookery, baking paraoa in moulds developed by Sanpitak and preparing a feast for the opening of the exhibition Stealing the Senses. She was formative for many artists exhibiting or participating in the program at the Govett-Brewster and remains impressed on their memories, the names of these artists too long to list here.

Since 2015, Maata has joined the Gallery each November to mark Te Rā o te Pāhua with screenings of the film Tātarakihi: The Children of Parihaka, which follows a group of Parihaka tamariki as they visit the places their tupuna were imprisoned during the 1880s.

During 2021-2022, Govett-Brewster registration, exhibitions and programming staff worked alongside Maata’s grandchildren, supporting Te Niho o Te Atiawa - Parāhuka wharenui to deinstall, catalogue, and temporarily house taonga in preparation for a major renovation of the wharenui, after which taonga was reinstalled under Maata’s direction.

Eternally generous in her manaakitanga, Maata enthusiastically played host to many visiting artists, arts workers and scholars, most recently Indigenous Taiwanese artists Lafin Sawmah, Eleng Luluan, Akac Orat and Malay Makakazuwan during their residency, and Ho’okuleana, a collective of Hawaiian artists, all of whom visited Taranaki in 2023.

In 2024, we were honoured to present Maata’s installation Hidden Muka alongside work by Sorawit Songsataya in the exhibition Fibrous Soul. Her installation spoke to the principles and philosophy of Kahu Whakatere, a tikanga Māori process for caring for tūpāpaku in deathing and after-deathing practices. Informed by the vision of her late husband Te Ru Koriri Wharehoka, who passed in 2007, Maata devoted almost two decades of her life to developing the process and sharing it with whānau across the motu.

An indomitable spirit, Maata is known by many and leaves a profound legacy in Taranaki, and across Aotearoa. The thoughts of everyone at the Gallery are with Maata’s whānau, and all those who loved and respected her.

Former staff and friends of the Gallery share some personal reflections

We have been lucky to work with, learn from and share food and laughter with Maata over the last five years. We first came to know her as kaitiaki of Te Niho o Te Atiawa – one of her many roles: nurse, weaver, artist, champion of Kahu Whakatere Tūpāpaku – and as a dedicated mother and grandmother.

Following the work of ‘Aunty Marge’ Matarena Marjorie Rau-Kupa, Maata was also a generous supporter of the Govett-Brewster. She enlisted the help of the Gallery in storing and re-hanging the many taonga of Te Niho o Te Atiawa whilst it was being refurbished.  

Coming face to face with Maata for the first time – as the formidable kaitiaki of Te Niho o Te Atiawa marae – had us shaking in our shoes. She eyed us from across the whare, her loyal mokopuna sitting beside her. Maata had the innate ability to quickly get the measure of a person, and put you to work. As we continued to return to the Pā, she in turn, shared kōrero of her whānau, the old people who came before her, her beliefs and desires which always returned to the heart of Parihaka. As two young wāhine, one of us who shared whakapapa to Te Niho, and the other from Ngāpuhi (which she generously ignored), she embraced us and brought us into her fold/fanclub.

We were moved to see her ambitious and accomplished artwork in the gallery last year alongside the work of Sorawit Songsataya, demonstrating what a dialogue between artists, each firmly grounded in their own whakapapa, could generate and elucidate across time and place.

We will miss Maata’s quick wit, cheeky smile, curiosity, infectious laugh and sharp intelligence, but we know that her boundless aspirations for her whānau, Te Niho, Parihaka and te iwi Māori will continue to inspire and motivate.

E kui e Maata
Ko te utu o te aroha ko te pōuri
Nei mātou e tangi ana mou
Kia au te moe

Hanahiva Rose (Govett-Brewster Assistant Curator Contemporary Art and Collection, 2020–2021) and Rongomai Grbic-Hoskins (Govett-Brewster Toi Māori Curatorial Intern, 2020)

Dearest Maata, we did not get to say goodbye. I take it as a sure sign that we will meet again. I looked through your messages today. Your first message to me was about our initial kōreko around death, deathing, and after-death practices. In your own words, "The presence of spirit is worthy of discussion." … I feel your comforting presence when I think of you. Your words, kindness, humbleness, and generosity have forever etched in my soul. I often think of the time when I asked you what you think about reincarnation. And your answer was your mokopuna. That's why I feel you have lived on. You are still around. And when I return to Taranaki, I will see you. And that there will be something I can do for your whānau. Or welcoming and hosting them when they visit Thailand. Just as you had welcomed me, under your roof, woven harakeke with you… Thank you, Maata, dear friend.

Sorawit Songsataya, Artist