Shona Rapira Davies (born 1951) is a New Zealand sculptor and

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

of Ngātiwai ki Aotea tribal descent currently residing in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, New Zealand.

Education

Rapira Davies first studied at the

Auckland College of Education The Auckland College of Education, earlier known as the Auckland Training College and the Auckland Teachers' Training College, was a teachers' college in Auckland, New Zealand's largest city. It was established in 1881 and was based in the Au ...

, majoring in art, and later in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

Otago Polytechnic Otago Polytechnic is a public Education in New Zealand#Tertiary education, New Zealand tertiary education institute, centred in Dunedin with additional campuses in Cromwell, New Zealand, Cromwell and Auckland. Otago Polytechnic provides career-f ...

, graduating with a Diploma in Fine Arts in 1983. In 1989, she was awarded the prestigious

Frances Hodgkins Fellowship The Frances Hodgkins Fellowship, established in 1962, is one of New Zealand's premier arts residencies. The list of past fellows includes many of New Zealand's most notable artists. Purpose The position is based at the University of Otago in Du ...

and a residency for indigenous artists at the Banff Centre of the Arts in Canada. Rapira Davies recalls she felt isolated in her identity while studying in Dunedin but the experience taught her the value of patience.

Career

She exhibits widely; both as a sculptor and as a painter. Rapira Davies is interested in the empowerment of Māori women in spite of perceived racism (in a

Pākehā ''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...

culture) and sexism (within the patriarchal structure of Māori tribal organisation). She uses her art work to make statements about perceived injustices against Māori. She is well known for her landscape sculpture commission for

Te Aro Te Aro (formerly also known as Te Aro Flat) is an inner-city suburb of Wellington, New Zealand. It comprises the southern part of the Wellington Central, central business district including the majority of the city's entertainment district and ...

Park (previously called ''Pigeon Park'') in central

. The ceramic tile permanent work'' is considered one of New Zealand's most successful public sculptures.'' Set in a narrow triangle of public space with adjacent busy roads and much foot traffic it is a very visible work. One of Rapira Davies' major works, the sculptural installatio
''Nga Morehu'' (1988)
the title of which translates to 'the survivors', is held by 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 ...

, along with preparatory drawings. The work was originally made for ''Whakamamae'' ('to feel pain'), an exhibition Rapira Davies had with painter Robyn Kahukiwa at the Wellington City Art Gallery in 1988. ''Ngā Morehu'' pays tribute to the strength and resilience of Māori women. The work depicts the , the call of welcome performed by women which begins ceremonial occasions, through a group of terracotta figures arranged on an unfinished (woven flax mat). The is mentioned by Rapira Davies as being the defining component of the piece. Her daughter completed the weaving after very little instruction, and which Rapira Davies describes as her journey into adulthood. A naked female child faces a group of women advancing towards her, performing the , and at the end of the mat is a seated (female elder). The body of the child is adorned with the words of a contemporary poem and that of the (the women leading the ) with the words of a (a song), while the other female forms carry racial slurs. Curator

Megan Tamati-Quennell Megan Faye Tamati-Quennell is a New Zealand art curator who has specialised in modern and contemporary Māori and indigenous art. In 2024, Tamati-Quennell was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to Māori and F ...

writes:

Reflecting the rise of the political Māori voice and the place of feminism in New Zealand art at the time, ''Ngā Morehu'' portrays the impact of colonisation on Māori culture and Māori women particularly. Yet Rapira Davies' work suggest transcendence too, by revealing a ritual state rarely portrayed, and through it, a Māori definition of beauty, status and worth.

In 2015, Te Papa opened a focus exhibition on Rapira Davies and fellow senior artist

Emily Karaka Emily Karaka (born Auckland in 1952), also known as Emare Karaka is a New Zealand artist of Māori ( Ngāti Tai ki Tāmaki, Ngati Hine, Ngāpuhi) descent Kirker, Anne. ''New Zealand Women Artists'' Reed Methuen, 1986 Her work is recognised for ...

which includes ''Ngā Morehu'' alongside preparatory sketches and more recent works.

Exhibitions

Solo

* ''Hone Heke,'' Art Attack Gallery, Dunedin. 1981 * ''Toku Whanau,'' Marshall Seifert Gallery, Dunedin. 1984 * ''Tangi,'' Marshall Seifert Gallery, Dunedin. 1985 * ''Wāhine, Wāhine,'' Marshall Seifert Gallery. 1985 * ''Kōrero au Taku Tamaiti,'' Bowen Galleries. 1986 * ''Ko Te Kihikihi'', Govett-Brewster Art Gallery / Len Lye Centre. 2022 * ''Ko Te Kihikihi Taku Ingoa'', Govett-Brewster Art Gallery / Len Lye Centre. 2022

Selected group exhibitions

* ''Māori Arts Festival,''

Women's Gallery The Women's Gallery was a collectively established and run art gallery in Wellington, New Zealand, showing only the work of women, that ran for four years between 1980 and 1984. History In 1977, artist Joanna Paul developed a project called ...

, (also Hocken Library Gallery, Dunedin) Wellington. 1980 * ''Aramoana,'' City Art Gallery, Wellington. 1980 * ''ANZART,'' Christchurch Arts Centre, Christchurch. 1980 * ''Content/Context,'' National Art Gallery of New Zealand, Wellington. 1986 * ''Whakamamae,'' Wellington City Art Gallery, 1988

Collections

Her works are held at

Te Papa 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 language, Māori for 'Waka huia, the treasure box'), it opened in 1998 after the merging of the Nation ...

and

Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki 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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rapira Davies, Shona New Zealand women painters New Zealand Māori artists 1951 births Living people Ngāti Wai people People associated with the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa People from Great Barrier Island Otago Polytechnic alumni 20th-century New Zealand sculptors 21st-century New Zealand sculptors 20th-century New Zealand women sculptors 21st-century New Zealand women sculptors