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Overview
Text originally created for Tūrangawaewae: Art and New Zealand exhibition at Te Papa, March 2018.
Proud and defiant, this unidentified woman from the Taupō area embodies mana [power and prestige].
Her mouth is firm, her jawline strong, and her bearing upright. Her eyes do not meet ours. Instead, she casts a steady gaze back along this wall of portraits.
Like the pūtātara [conch-shell trumpet] on the opposite wall, this woman represents a challenge to European depictions of Māori. Over a century after she sat for her portrait, she asserts a strong and enduring presence – maintaining a sense of self that resists both the artist and the viewer.
Ko te wahine māia, wahine ingoa-kore nei nō Taupō, te whakatinanatanga o tēnei mea te mana tangata.
Kita ana tōna waha, kua mārō tōna kauae, he tōtika hoki tana noho. Ehara i te mea kei te anga whakawaho ōna kanohi, engari kē kei te hāngai tana titiro ki te pātū kōwaiwai kiritangata.
Pēnei i te pūtātara i te pātū kei tua, e wero ana tēnei wahine i ngā whakaahua a te Pākehā o te Māori. Neke atu i te kotahi rau tau nō te whakatutukitanga o te kōwaiwai kiritangata nei, kei te kitea tonutia tōna mana – he mana e kore e riro i te ringatoi me te hunga tirotiro.