Diane Prince (born 1952) is a painter, weaver, installation art practitioner and set designer and affiliates to the Maori iwi Ngā Puhi and

Ngāti Whātua Ngāti Whātua is a Māori iwi (tribe) of the lower Northland Peninsula of New Zealand's North Island. It comprises a confederation of four hapū (subtribes) interconnected both by ancestry and by association over time: Te Uri-o-Hau, Te Roroa, Te ...

from the north of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Biography

Prince was born in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) 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 second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

in 1952. She obtained tertiary education from

Wellington Teachers College Wellington College of Education (formerly Wellington Teachers' Training College) was established in 1888 with the purpose of educating teachers in New Zealand. It became the Faculty of Education of Victoria University of Wellington, formed from th ...

and

Auckland University The University of Auckland is a public university, public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest, most comprehensive and highest-ranked university in New Zealand and consistently places among the top 100 universit ...

. In the 1970s Prince was part of the

Bastion Point Takaparawhau / Bastion Point is a coastal piece of land in Ōrākei, Auckland, New Zealand, overlooking the Waitematā Harbour. The area is significant in New Zealand history as the site of protests in the late 1970s by Māori against forced la ...

protests including as a researcher, the protests and occupation resulted in the New Zealand Government returning the land to Ngāti Whātua in the 1980s. Prince has been exhibiting artwork since 1986 nationally and internationally, much of her art revolves around

Māori rights 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 C ...

especially Māori women's rights. She is often described as a multimedia artist as she creates installations, she weaves and she paints. Prince and artist

Shona Rapira Davies Shona Rapira Davies (born 1951) is a sculptor and painter of Ngātiwai 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 lat ...

are long time collaborators. In 1995 an installation artwork of Prince's bringing attention to New Zealand identity raised controversy leading to protests and the eventual removal of the artwork. A solo exhibition of Prince's at the City Gallery in Wellington in 2001 is called ''Veiled Legacy.'' It was about the loss of legal status Māori women experienced once laws from

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

were imposed after the signing of the

Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi ( mi, Te Tiriti o Waitangi) is a document of central importance to the history, to the political constitution of the state, and to the national mythos of New Zealand. It has played a major role in the treatment of the M ...

. The curator said of the work: Veiled Legacy'' are images of loss and alienation, but the paintings also speak of Māori women's ongoing strength and resilience'. A number of Prince's works are in the collections at Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand.

Works and exhibitions

''Nga Toi o te Iwi - Nga Hua o te Iwi'' (1988),

National Library of New Zealand The National Library of New Zealand ( mi, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa) is New Zealand's legal deposit library charged with the obligation to "enrich the cultural and economic life of New Zealand and its interchanges with other nations" (''Nat ...

, group exhibition ''Diane Prince and Emare Karaka'' (1989), McDougall Art Annex,

Christchurch Art Gallery The Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, commonly known as the Christchurch Art Gallery, is the public art gallery of the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. It has its own substantial art collection and also presents a programme of New ...

''Choice!''

Artspace Artspace may refer to: * Artspace (website), an online marketplace based in New York City * Artspace, New Haven, an art gallery in downtown New Haven, Connecticut * Artspace Mackay, Mackay, Queensland, Australia * Artspace NZ, a visual arts cent ...

, Auckland, group exhibition ''Korurangi: New Māori Art'' (1995),

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 ...

, group exhibition ''Purapurawhetu, (1997)'' by

Briar Grace-Smith Briar Grace-Smith is a screenwriter, director, actor, and short story writer from New Zealand. She has worked as an actor and writer with the Maori theatre cooperative Te Ohu Whakaari and Maori theatre company He Ara Hou. Early plays ''Don't Ca ...

, Downstage Theatre (and touring), set designer Diane Prince and Mark McEntyre ''Women Far Walking'' (2000) by Witi Ihimarea, New Zealand Festival, set and costume designers Diane Prince and Mark McEntyre ''Harururu Mai'' (2000) by Briar Grace-Smith, New Zealand Festival, set and costume designers Diane Prince and Mark McEntyre ''Veiled Legacy'' (23 February - 25 March 2001)'','' Wellington City Art Gallery, paintings by Diane Prince Te Aro Park - mural on public building (2011), Wellington ''Poi Poi Poi, Works by Gabrielle Belz, Diane Prince and Shona Rapira Davies'' (19 June - 20 July 2014), Bottle Creek Gallery,

Pataka Pātaka Art + Museum is a municipal museum and art gallery of Porirua City, New Zealand. Te Marae o Te Umu Kai o Hau is the name of the building where Pātaka Museum + Art is located and opened in 1998. It also houses the Porirua City Library, Caf ...

Porirua Porirua, ( mi, Pari-ā-Rua) a city in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand, is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. The name 'Porirua' is a corruption of 'Pari-rua', meaning "the tide swee ...

''Maori Art Today'' exhibition which accompanied ''

Te Maori ''Te Maori'' (sometimes ''Te Māori'' in modern sources) was a watershed exhibition of Māori art in 1984 (later continued to 1985, 1986 and 1987). It is notable as the first occasion on which Māori art had been exhibited by Māori, and also th ...

'' ''Mana Tiriti,'' Wellington City Art Gallery, group exhibition ''1981'' by John Broughton,

Centrepoint Theatre Centrepoint Theatre is a theatre and theatre company in Palmerston North in New Zealand. Established in 1973, the theatre has employed more than 2500 actors and produced more New Zealand plays than any other theatre. History The theatre open ...

, Palmerston North, set designer Diane Prince Commissioned woven waka,

Tapu Te Ranga Marae Tapu Te Ranga Marae is located in Island Bay, Wellington, New Zealand. The marae was founded by Bruce Stewart who lived there until his death in 2017. It was a tribute to Stewart's mother, Hinetai Hirini, and is listed as a heritage site . Hist ...

Island Bay Island Bay is a coastal suburb of Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, situated south of the city centre. Island Bay lies on the bay which shares its name, one of numerous small bays off Cook Strait and west of Lyall Bay. 500m offshore in ...

, Wellington

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prince, Diane New Zealand Māori weavers Women textile artists New Zealand women painters 20th-century New Zealand women artists 1952 births 2012 deaths Ngāpuhi people Ngāti Whātua people Artists from Wellington City University of Auckland alumni