Sanderson are pleased to share Wi Te Tau Pirika Taepa (Te Arawa, Ngati Whakaue, Te Āti Awa) is one of the recipients of the Platinum Jubilee Queen’s Birthday Honours this year.
Taepa has been appointed as an Officer of the Order (ONZM) for his services to Māori art, particularly ceramics.
Taepa has been at the forefront of promoting uku, the medium of clay, within te ao Māori since the mid 1980’s.
‘I think of it like bringing an idea from darkness into light,’ he says
- te po, te whaiao, te ao marama;
from out of the darkness, the world of being, to the world of light.
Taepa was one of five founders of Ngā Kaihanga Uku National Collective of Māori Clay Workers in 1987. He is recognised as a master of his art, as well as a mentor and storyteller.
Images:
1. Untitled Ipu, 2000, from Mahere Mapping. Collection Pātaka Art + Museum
2. Taepa in his studio, Whitireia Polytechnic, Porirua, 1990, Image courtesy of Whitireia Polytechnic
Facebook
Instagram
WeChat