Shona Rapira Davies

Shona Rapira Davies (born 1951) is a sculptor and painter of Ngati Wai ki Aotea tribal descent. Currently residing in Wellington New Zealand.

Education

Rapira Davies first studied at the Auckland College of Education, majoring in art, and later in Dunedin at Otago Polytechnic, graduating with a Diploma in Fine Arts in 1983. In 1989 she was awarded the prestigious Frances Hodgkins Fellowship and a residency for indigenous artists at the Banff Centre of the Arts in Canada.[1]

Rapira Davies recalls she felt isolated in her identity while studying in Dunedin but the experience taught her the value of patience.[2]

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 culture) and sexism (within the patriarchal structure of Māori tribal organisation). She uses her art work to make statements about perceived injustices against Māori.[3]

She is well known for her landscape sculpture commission for Te Aro Park (also called Pigeon Park) in central Wellington.[4] The ceramic tile permanent work is considered one of New Zealand's most successful public sculptures.[5] Set in a narrow triangle of public space with adjacent busy roads and much foot traffic it is a very visible work.[6]

One of Rapira Davies' major works, the sculptural installation Nga Morehu (1988), the title of which translates to 'the survivors', is held by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, along with preparatory drawings.[7] The work was originally made for Whakamamae ('to feel pain'), an exhibition Rapira Davies had with painter Robyn Kahukiwa at the Wellington City Art Gallery in 1988.[8] Ngā Morehu pays tribute to the strength and resilience of Māori women.[8] The work depicts the karanga, the call of welcome performed by women which begins ceremonial occasions, through a group of terracotta figures arranged on an unfinished whāriki (woven flax mat).[8] The whāriki 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.[9] A naked female child faces a group of women advancing towards her, performing the karanga, and at the end of the mat is a seated kuia (female elder).[8] The body of the child is adorned with the words of a contemporary poem and that of the kaikaranga (the women leading the karanga) with the words of a waiata (a song), while the other female forms carry racial slurs. Curator Megan Tamati-Quennell 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.[8]

In 2015 Te Papa opened a focus exhibition on Rapira Davies and fellow senior artist Emily Karaka which includes Ngā Morehu alongside preparatory sketches and more recent works.[10]

Solo [11]
  • 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

Selected Group Exhibitions
  • Māori Arts Festival, Women's Gallery, (also Hocken Library Gallery, Dunedin) Wellington. 1980[11]
  • Aramoana, City Art Gallery, Wellington. 1980[11]
  • ANZART, Christchurch Arts Centre, Christchurch. 1980 [11]
  • Content/Context, National Art Gallery of New Zealand, Wellington. 1986[2]
  • Whakamamae, Wellington City Art Gallery, 1988[12][13]

Collections

Her works are held at Te Papa[14] and Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki.[15]

References
  1. "prospect". telecomprospect2004.org.nz. 2011. Archived from the original on 16 February 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2011. Shona Rapira Davies originally made Raising the Taniwha, a series of small, wall-mounted ceramic figures, while on a residency for indigenous artists at the Banff Centre of the Arts in Canada.
  2. Kirker, Anne, 1947- (1993). New Zealand women artists : a survey of 150 years. Tortola, BVI: Craftsman House. pp. 211–212. ISBN 9768097302. OCLC 28491897.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. "Te Aro Park003". secure.flickr.com. 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2011. Walking over the names of Maori ancestors – revealing the disrespect with which they have been historically treated. 2015 January–August Wellington Community centre.
  4. "Te Aro Park – Te Āti Awa of Wellington – Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand". teara.govt.nz. 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2011. Te Aro Park in central Wellington (between Manners and Dixon streets) marks part of the site of the major pā, Te Aro. The park, designed by ceramics artist Shona Rapira Davies, is in the shape of a canoe, with the prow on the extreme right of the photograph.
  5. "Bowen Galleries :: Artists Bio :: Shona Rapira Davies". bowengalleries.co.nz. 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2011. From 1988 to 1992 Shona designed and completed Te Aro Park in Wellington, a major ceramic tile permanent work and considered one of New Zealand's most successful public sculptures.
  6. "A Cat Among the Pigeons". nzonscreen.com. 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2011. This doco follows the passionate, stroppy Rapira Davies, as she fights cost overruns, landscape architects and passersby, and for her vision (which involved handcrafting Te Aro park's 20,000+ ceramic tiles).
  7. "Nga Morehu". Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  8. McAloon, William (2009). Art at Te Papa. Wellington: Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. p. 355. ISBN 9781877385483.
  9. Pū Manawa : a celebration of whatu, rarange, and tāniko. Tamati-Quennell, Megan., Anderson, Eva., Museum of New Zealand. Wellington, N.Z.: Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand. 1993. p. 29. ISBN 0909010005. OCLC 31134148.CS1 maint: others (link)
  10. "Two Artists: Emily Karaka & Shona Rapira Davies". Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  11. Bieringa, Luit, 1942- Barr, Jim, 1947- Barr, Mary (Mary Milroy) Brierley, Judi. Maiden, Leslie. (1986). Content/context : a survey of recent New Zealand art 1986. National Art Gallery. ISBN 0959778519. OCLC 24288954.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. Whakamamae (PDF). Davies, Shona Rapira., Kahukiwa, Robyn., Wellington City Art Gallery (Wellington, N.Z.). Wellington, N.Z.: Wellington City Art Gallery. 1988. ISBN 0-909919-01-7. OCLC 62334645.CS1 maint: others (link) CS1 maint: ignored ISBN errors (link)
  13. "City Gallery Wellington". citygallery.org.nz. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  14. "Davies, Shona Rapira – Collections Online – Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa". collections.tepapa.govt.nz. 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
  15. "Hauturu Hauturu – Auckland Art Gallery". aucklandartgallery.com. 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2011. Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki,
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