Mary Tupai Ama is a Cook Islands-New Zealand artist and community arts organiser.

Biography

Ama was born in Vaka Takitumu in the southeast of the island of

Rarotonga Rarotonga is the largest and most populous of the Cook Islands. The island is volcanic, with an area of , and is home to almost 75% of the country's population, with 10,898 of a total population of 15,040. The Parliament of the Cook Islands, Coo ...

in the

Cook Islands The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately . The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers of ocean. Avarua is its ...

, and has Cook Island Maori, Samoan and English heritage. Her mother died when Ama was young and her father remarried, and Ama was raised by her grandparents. Ama immigrated to New Zealand in 1965, and worked for various government departments. Ama founded

Pacifica Mamas The Pacifica Mamas Arts and Cultural Trust is an arts collective based in Auckland, New Zealand, with the mission to pass on traditional Pacific arts. The arts collective are based at the Pacifica Arts Centre, located in the Corban Estate Arts C ...

, a community arts collective based in

Auckland, New Zealand 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 ...

, in the late 1980s. The collective designs and delivers Pacific-based arts and cultural programmes in schools and the community both in New Zealand and overseas in the Cook Islands, Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and the United States. Ama also developed a programme for Pacific prison inmates, which she has delivered at Spring Hill Correction Facility near

Huntly Huntly ( or ''Hunndaidh'') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, formerly known as Milton of Strathbogie or simply Strathbogie. It had a population of 4,460 in 2004 and is the site of Huntly Castle. Its neighbouring settlements include Keith ...

for more than ten years. Ama has been the Pacific Island Arts Advocate for the

Waitakere City Council Waitakere City was a territorial authority in West Auckland, New Zealand; it was governed by the Waitakere City Council from 1989 to 2010. It was New Zealand's fifth-largest city,. with an annual growth of about 2%. In 2010 the council was a ...

and has taught at both Mt Albert Grammar School and Corbans Estate Arts Centre. In 1998, Ama began working for the

, and as a part of Pacifica Mamas began teaching tivaevae classes in 1999. She has delivered other Pacific arts, culture and community projects for

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 ...

, Auckland War Memorial Museum, Auckland Council, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, and ASB Polyfest.

Recognition

In 2012, the collective won the Creative NZ Pacific Heritage Arts Award. In 2015, Ama and the Pacifica Mamas won the Arts Access Corrections Community Award for their work at Spring Hill. In the 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours, Ama was appointed a

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 and the Pacific community.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ama, Mary Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit Living people 21st-century New Zealand women artists Cook Island emigrants to New Zealand Year of birth missing (living people) Cook Island artists People from Rarotonga