Lisa Marie Reihana (born 1964) is a New Zealand artist. Her video work, ''In Pursuit of Venus nfected' (2015), which examines early encounters between Polynesians and European explorers, was featured at the 2017

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

Early life

Reihana grew up in Blockhouse Bay,

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

. She is of

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

(

Ngāpuhi Ngāpuhi (also known as Ngāpuhi-Nui-Tonu or Ngā Puhi) is a Māori iwi associated with the Northland regions of New Zealand centred in the Hokianga, the Bay of Islands, and Whangārei. According to the 2023 New Zealand census, the estimate ...

Ngāti Hine Ngāti Hine is an Māori iwi (tribe) with a rohe (tribal area) in Northland, New Zealand. It is part of the wider Ngāpuhi iwi. Its rohe (tribal area) covers the areas of Waiomio, Kawakawa, Taumarere, Moerewa, Motatau, Waimahae, Pakara ...

, Ngāi Tūteauru) descent.

Education

Reihana attended

Lynfield College Lynfield College is a secondary education provider in Lynfield, Auckland, New Zealand. It celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2008. The Principal of Lynfield College is Ms Cath Knell. The school practices NCEA for assessments and examinations, ...

, after which she attended the

Elam School of Fine Arts The Elam School of Fine Arts, founded by John Edward Elam, is part of the University of Auckland Faculty of Creative Arts and Industries, Faculty of Creative Arts and Industries at the University of Auckland. It offered the first Bachelor of ...

Auckland University The University of Auckland (; Māori language, Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public university, public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the Unive ...

in 1983, graduating in 1987 with a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students pursuing a professional education in the visual arts, Fine art, or performing arts. In some instances, it is also called a Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA). Background ...

. She graduated with a masters in design from

Unitec Institute of Technology Unitec ( Māori: Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka) is the largest institute of technology in Auckland, New Zealand. 16,844 students study programmes from certificate to postgraduate degree level (levels 1 to 9) across a range of subjects. The main c ...

Department of Design and Contemporary Arts in 2014.

Career

In 1990, Reihana with the film ''Wog Features'' was one of seven artists in the exhibition ''Choice!'' curated by George Hubbard at Artspace in Auckland. The following year she was included in ''Pleasures and Dangers: Artists of the '90s'', a publication and documentary of the same name produced by the Moet & Chandon New Zealand Art Foundation showcasing "the work of eight exciting younger artists, most just now making their mark nationally and overseas". In 2006, Reihana was one of fifteen New Zealand artists, most of Māori and Pacific Island descent, who were invited to take part in the ''Pasifika Styles'' exhibition by making site-specific works throughout the

Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge The Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, also known as MAA, at the University of Cambridge houses the university's collections of local antiquities, together with archaeological and ethnographic artefacts from around the world. The museum ...

that responded to objects in the museum's collection. For her work ''He Tautoko'' (2006) Reihana responded to the museum's Oceania collection, making an

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

connection by selecting a Ngāpuhi tekoteko (carved gable figure) to work with. Using footage of collection items filmed on an earlier visit to the museum, Reihana made a video of "multi-layered images and animated

tukutuku Tukutuku panelling is a distinctive art form of the Māori people of New Zealand, a traditional latticework used to decorate meeting houses (wharenui). Other names are Tuitui and Arapaki. Tukutuku flank the posts around the edge of the wharenu ...

patterns" that she played on a screen mounted behind the teketeko. Next to the cabinet holding the tekoteko three handsets made audio recordings available for visitors to listen to: the tracks included a recording of songs sung by the

Manukau Institute of Technology Established in 1970, Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT) () is a Category One Institute of technology in Auckland, New Zealand. Category One is the highest possible educational rating as evaluated by the New Zealand Qualifications Authorit ...

's Māori choir, the sound of carver Lyonel Grant chiselling a pattern similar to that found on the tekoteko, and recordings of voices reading information about the tekoteko's

provenance Provenance () is the chronology of the ownership, custody or location of a historical object. The term was originally mostly used in relation to works of art, but is now used in similar senses in a wide range of fields, including archaeology, p ...

. A pair of 1960s headphones were positioned on the tekoteko's head. Underneath the cabinet holding the tekoteko Reihana placed another work, ''fluffy fings'', as a playful counterpoint, a collection of "furry and feathery horn works with titles such as ''thingymybobs'' and ''plush tusks''." Reihana wrote of this display "The colourful nature of this work appeals to adults and children alike. So that parents could spend more time with ''he tautoko'', ''fluffy fings'' was placed at a child's eye level." Art historian Peter Brunt observes of Reihana's work in ''Pasifika Styles'':

Reihana's work exemplifies two preoccupations of contemporary Pacific art. One is the desire to re-examine colonial history, to excavate, remember and re-present countless micro-histories and counter-memories in formally experimental ways. The second is the desire to draw inspiration from the 'life-worlds' of cultural communities in the present.

In 2008, Reihana completed a major commission for the

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. Usually known as Te Papa ( Māori for ' the treasure box'), it opened in 1998 after the merging of the National Museum of New Zealand ...

. Installed along Te Ara a Hine (one of the two entrances to the marae in the museum) the work, ('From love, comes love'), was made up of seven components, including video, digital photography and textile design. In the same year Reihana was one of three New Zealand artists selected for the Liverpool Biennale. LisaRihana 2022

In 2014, Reihana received an Arts Laureate Award from the

Arts Foundation of New Zealand The Arts Foundation of New Zealand Te Tumu Toi is a New Zealand arts organisation that supports artistic excellence and facilitates private philanthropy through raising funds for the arts and allocating it to New Zealand artists. The foundatio ...

. In March 2016 Reihana was named as a nominee in the biennial

Walters Prize The Walters Prize is New Zealand's largest contemporary art prize. Held biennially since 2002, the prize aims to 'make contemporary art a more widely recognised and debated feature of cultural life'. The prize is named in honour of New Zealand ab ...

for her work ''in Pursuit of Venus nfected'' Reihana was the 2022 Artist in Focus at the Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts where she curated a programme of work.

''In Pursuit of Venus nfected'

Reihana's major multi-channel video work ''In Pursuit of Venus nfected' (2015) went on display at the

Auckland Art Gallery Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki is the principal public gallery in Auckland, New Zealand. It has the most extensive collection of national and international art in New Zealand and frequently hosts travelling international exhibitions. Set be ...

in May 2015. Six years in the making, the work is based on a large 19th-century scenic wallpaper, ''Les Sauvages de la Mer Pacifique'', created by French firm

Joseph Dufour et Cie Joseph Dufour et Cie, founded in 1797 by Joseph and Pierre Dufour, was a French painted wallpaper and fabrics manufacturer () located in Mâcon, France. General In 1806, in collaboration with the artist Jean-Gabriel Charvet, Dufour et Cie produce ...

which depicts a romanticised view of the landscapes and people of the Pacific. Using the landscape forms of the wallpaper as a backdrop, Reihana added live action scenes recorded in front of green screens, showing interactions between Europeans and Polynesians. Reihana worked with theatre director

Rachel House Rachel Jessica Te Ao Maarama House (born 20 October 1971) is a New Zealand actress and director. She is best known for her roles in the films of Taika Waititi. She has received numerous accolades including an Arts Laureate, NZ Order of Mer ...

, actors and students from the Pacific Institute of Performing Arts to create this 32-minute film installation. Reihana's script re-examines the first encounters between Polynesians and Europeans with scenes that depict the intricacies of cultural identity and colonisation. Instead of Dufour's romanticised depictions of Europeans interacting with native people, Reihana shows the realities of these interactions, including scenes of violence and exchanges of goods for sexual favours. In a review of the work, John Hurell writes:

In this eagerly anticipated, but not hyped up, narrative packed panorama by Lisa Reihana (it is as good as the advance publicity claimed), its loop of thirty-two minutes duration holds its audience enthralled, being the very best kind of spectacle. Not only is this seamlessly blended array of five video projections sensual - with its sweeping landscape, figure groupings, body movement, leafy textures and dramatic music - but it is thoroughly researched, being packed with much detailed historical information.

An earlier version of the work, ''Pursuit of Venus'', was a finalist in the

Singapore Art Museum The Singapore Art Museum (Abbreviation: SAM) is an art museum with multiple venues across Singapore. It is the first fully dedicated contemporary visual arts museum in Singapore with one of the world’s most important public collections by loc ...

's Signature Art Prize in 2014. The exhibition was the most-visited solo exhibition by a New Zealand artist at the Auckland Art Gallery since 1997, with 49,000 visitors. A version of the work was shown at the 12th Festival of Pacific Arts in Guam in 2016, and the

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and list of most visited art museums in the world, most visited art mu ...

from June to September 2016. In 2022 ''In Pursuit of Venus nfected' was part of the Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts from Friday 15 October – Sunday 31 July at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

Venice Biennale 2017

Reihana represented New Zealand at the 2017

, where she showed an updated version of ''In Pursuit of Venus nfected' and a new suite of photographic works.

Exhibitions

* 2023 ''He Wai Ngunguru - Nomads of the Sea'' Wairau Māori Art Gallery, Hundertwasser Art Centre, Whagārei, Northland * 2022 ''Lisa Reihana Nomads of the Sea'' Pātaka, Porirua * 2021 ''New Histories: Lisa Reihana and William Dunning'' Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand, Wellington * 2021 Ihi Mother and Son Milford Galleries, Dunedin * 2019-2020 ''In Pursuit of Venus'' Kumu, Tallinn, Estonia *2019 ''in Pursuit of Venus nfected' de Young Museum, San Francisco, California, USA * 2019 ''in Pursuit of Venus nfected' Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA * 2019 ''in Pursuit of Venus nfected' Norval Foundation South African, Cape Town, South Africa * 2019 ''in Pursuit of Venus nfected' APPM Services Building, Burnie, Australia * 2018 '' in Pursuit of Venus nfected''Royal Academy of Art, London, England * 2015 ''in Pursuit of Venus nfected' Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia * 2015 ''in Pursuit of Venus nfected' Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand * 2013 ''In Pursuit of Venus'' A-Space Gallery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada * 2012 ''PELT'' Fehily Contemporary, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia * 2012 ''Nga Hau e wha'' Papakura Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand * 2010 ''Te Po o Matariki'' Corbans Estate, Bruce Mason Theatre, Auckland, New Zealand * 2008 ''Mai i te aroha, ko te aroha'' Museum of New Zealand Te Papa, Wellington, New Zealand * 2007 ''Native Portraits'' Museo Laboratoriao Arte Contemporanea, Rome, Italy * 2007 ''Digital Marae''

Govett-Brewster Art Gallery The Govett-Brewster Art Gallery is a contemporary art museum at New Plymouth New Plymouth () is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, in ...

, New Plymouth, New Zealand * 2006 ''Tamaki of 100 Suitors ‘5-4-3-2-1 Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand * 2006 ''Some Girls + Colour of Sin'' Snowhite Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand * 2005 ''New Works'' Adam Art Gallery, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand * 2004 ''2004 the colour of sin'' Ramp Gallery, Hamilton, New Zealand * 2003 ''Readymade'' Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia * 2003 ''Digital Marae'' The Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt, New Zealand

Collections

Reihana's work is represented in the collections of

, the

and the

Public artworks

Created to celebrate the life of

Ellen Melville Eliza Ellen Melville (13 May 1882 – 27 July 1946) was a New Zealand lawyer and politician. She was New Zealand's second female lawyer, and the first woman elected to a city council in New Zealand. She sat on the Auckland City Council for 33 ye ...

, the large bronze sculpture ''Justice'' adorns the wall of the

Ellen Melville Centre The Ellen Melville Centre is a community centre located in Freyberg Square in central Auckland, New Zealand. It is named after Ellen Melville, the first woman to be elected to the Auckland City Council and the second New Zealand woman to becom ...

in central Auckland. The work depicts the scales of justice but tipped in favour of women.

Honours and awards

In 2015 Reihana was recognised with the Te Tohu Toi Kē award from

Creative New Zealand The Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa (Creative New Zealand) is the national arts development agency of the New Zealand government established in 1963. It invests in artists and arts organisations, offering capability building programmes a ...

for "making a positive difference to ngā toi Māori". In the

2018 New Year Honours The 2018 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Hono ...

, Reihana was appointed a

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ...

for services to art. She was promoted to

Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ...

, for services to the arts, in the 2022 Queen's Birthday and Platinum Jubilee Honours.

References

External links

Watch In ''Pursuit of Venus nfected' on Reihana's websit
here
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reihana, Lisa Living people 1964 births New Zealand contemporary artists Ngāpuhi people Artists from Auckland Elam Art School alumni Unitec Institute of Technology alumni Ngāti Hine people Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit People educated at Lynfield College