Bio

Maioha Kara (Ngāti Koroki Kahukara, Ngāti Tipa, Te Ātihaunui-a-Pāpārangi, Tūhourangi, Te Whānau a Hinetapora, Kuki Airani) explores the relationship of geometric patterns, whakapapa or ancestral lineage, and natural formations. This set of relational kinships is articulated by her deployment of traditional materials, such as rākau (woods) and motifs as found in tukutuku panels or kōwhaiwhai designs, to create elegant, glitter-filled evocations of the night sky and inspiring Indigenous creation stories. Kara graduated with an MFA from the Toi Rauwhārangi College of Creative Arts at Massey University in 2021. Since then her work has been curated into a number of public-gallery exhibitions and recently her first solo exhibition, at Pātaka + Museum, Porirua, Maioha Kara: In Good Relation (2024).

On the occasion of her 2023 solo exhibition at Laree Payne Gallery (from which the work in Te Haerenga Collection was acquired), 2016 Walters Prize winner Shannon Te Ao wrote an accompanying essay titled ‘Star Talk’, in which he described Kara’s practice as being ‘grounded through a commitment to living systems –systems of life – as they are observed within te ao Māori.’

He goes on to quote esteemed Māori minister and cultural philosopher Māori Marsden (1924–1993) in relation to Kara’s mahi toi: ‘Māori perceived the universe as a process. But they went beyond the New Physicists’ idea of the Real World as simply “pure energy” to postulate a world comprised of a series of interconnected realms separated by aeons of time from which there eventually emerged the Natural World. This cosmic process is unified and bound together by spirit.’

The work by Kara in Te Haerenga Collection is titled Te Atawhai, which translates to kindheartedness or benevolence – it exemplifies her fusion of a traditional form, in this case the wheku (head) motif within her signature arrangement of whetū, or glitter stars. The wheku is an emblematic carved form representing the mana of tūpuna (ancestors), in this case evoking a benevolent presence.

Miaoha Kara is currently a PhD candidate at Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University. Her thesis is titled In Good Relation: Engaging Whakapapa and Māori Metaphysics.

Exhibitions

• 2024   Pātaka Art + Museum, Porirua: Maioha Kara: In Good Relation
  
• 2024   Laree Payne Gallery, Kirikiriroa Hamilton: Ara within the Āhuru
  
• 2024   Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, Ngāmotu New Plymouth: Maioha Kara: Salutations
  
• 2023   Laree Payne Gallery, Kirikiriroa Hamilton: Moemoeā
  
• 2023   Scape Public Art, Ōtautahi Christchurch: installation titled Iraira
  
• 2022   The Dowse Art Museum, Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai Lower Hutt: Whetūrangitia / Made as Stars