Tāwera Tahuri
Ngā Ariki Kaipūtahi, Rongowhakaata, Whakatōhea, Ngāti Uenuku, Tūwharetoa
Mother, grandmother, Protector, teacher, practising visual, and performing artist. BA. Dip Teaching. Master Māori Visual Arts. PhD Student in Indigenous studies
Tāwera Tahuri is a mixed media artist covering a wide range of mediums and techniques. She is a mother of six children and grandmother of four. Tāwera is actively involved in a local, national, and international stage as a practising artist, teacher, and performer.
The Treaty of Waitangi Ngā Ariki Kaipūtahi Land Claim WAI 507 has been an integral part of the revitalization of her People and this has been the basis of her recent bodies of work. The Seventh Generation principle is an important component of the people of Tamanui (the eponymous ancestor of Ngā Ariki Kaipūtahi who never ceded) as it serves not only as a reminder of the wrongs of the past but also the hopes and aspirations of the future seven generations.
Art and Activism - One of the same
As indigenous women artists Dianne, Linda and Tāwera will discuss their notions of art as activism. Some of the topics explored in this session will include aboriginal and indigenous perspectives within the arts, truths and untruths, popular nationhood ideologies and the way in which art practice can reinforce principles of tino rangatiratanga and the sovereignty of Native nations. Tāwera will discuss the Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples that emerged from Indigenous communities during the cultural, social, and political renaissance era of the ’60s and ’70s. Becoming a good ancestor should be, if not already, at the forefront of every indigenous native mind in the world. We can do this by thriving and not just surviving!
