Erena Baker is a New Zealand visual artist of

Ngāti Toa Rangatira Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

Te Ātiawa ki Whakarongotai and

Te Āti Awa Te Āti Awa is a Māori iwi with traditional bases in the Taranaki and Wellington regions of New Zealand. Approximately 17,000 people registered their affiliation to Te Āti Awa in 2001, with around 10,000 in Taranaki, 2,000 in Wellington and arou ...

descent. Baker uses photography to explore ideas of commemoration and remembrance within Te ao Māori. She is also a member of

Mata Aho Collective The Mata Aho Collective is a group of four Māori women artists, Erena Baker ( Te Atiawa ki Whakarongotai, Ngāti Toa Rangātira), Sarah Hudson (Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tūhoe), Bridget Reweti (Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi) and Terri Te Tau ( Rangit ...

, a group of four artists known for their large-scale art works. As part of the collective their work has been exhibited internationally at the Royal Academy of Arts and the

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the l ...

Education

In 2009, Baker graduated with a Masters of Māori Visual Arts from Toioho ki Āpiti School of Māori Studies at

Massey University Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...

. Her thesis was on the importance of photography in Māori culture. She now works within the school as a lecturer and is based in

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

Exhibitions

Her first solo exhibition, entitled ''Pepeha'', was held at Thermostat Gallery in Palmerston North. Her photographic work ''Tango Whakaahua'' produced in 2006 is part of Auckland Art Gallery's permanent collection. The work consists of 50 self-portraits of Baker wearing a cloak by weaver Kohai Grace. Baker was one of the founding members of the Mata Aho Collective which formed in 2012. The group consists of Sarah Hudson,

Bridget Reweti Bridget Reweti (active since 2000s) is a New Zealand photographer and moving image artist of Ngāti Ranginui and Ngāi Te Rangi descent. Reweti is a member of the artist group Mata Aho Collective. Education Reweti holds a Masters in Māori ...

and

Terri Te Tau Terri Te Tau is a New Zealand contemporary artist and writer. She is a member of the Mata Aho Collective. In 2017, the collective represented New Zealand at documenta, a quinquennial contemporary-art exhibition held in Kassel, Germany. This w ...

. The first work the collective produced was ''Te Whare Pora'' in 2012. This was shown at the

Adam Art Gallery Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

and was subsequently acquisitioned into the

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

Art Collection. As part of the Mata Aho Collective Baker's work has been exhibited internationally at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. The show, ''Àbadakone, Feu Continuel, Continuous Fire,'' showcased a range of works from contemporary indigenous artists. In 2020 Erena Baker's work was included in the

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 ...

Exhibition ''Toi Tū Toi Ora.'' Her individual photography work was included alongside that which she produced with the Mata Aho Collective.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Erena New Zealand Māori artists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Massey University alumni Academic staff of Massey University Te Āti Awa people