Ngaahina Hohaia (born 1975) is a

visual artist The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts al ...

and weaver of

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 ...

Ngāti Ruanui Ngāti Ruanui is a Māori iwi traditionally based in the Taranaki region of New Zealand. In the 2006 census, 7,035 people claimed affiliation to the iwi. However, most members now live outside the traditional areas of the iwi. History Early hist ...

, Ngāti Moeahu, Ngāti Haupoto and

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

descent from

Parihaka Parihaka is a community in the Taranaki region of New Zealand, located between Mount Taranaki and the Tasman Sea. In the 1870s and 1880s the settlement, then reputed to be the largest Māori village in New Zealand, became the centre of a major camp ...

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

Hohaia has artistic influences from her grandmothers. Her

Māori 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 ...

grandmother was a weaver and Greek grandmother was a painter. Ngaahina gained a Masters in Māori Visual Arts from Toioho ki Āpiti in 2009 and in 2010 received the

Arts Foundation of New Zealand 'The Arts Foundation of New Zealand Te Tumu Toi is a New Zealand arts organisation that supports artistic excellence and facilitates private philanthropy through raising funds for the arts and allocating it to New Zealand artists. The concept ...

New Generation Award. In 2007 Hohaia received the Te Waka Toi Ngā Karapihi award.

Work

Her work often draws from Parihaka history and has been exhibited nationally and internationally. Her contemporary art work uses traditional fibres combined with metals and silks. Items she has created include jewellery and adornment pieces, sculpture and large-scale multimedia installations. Wellington's City Gallery opened a new gallery space Roderick and Gillian Deane Gallery for Maori and Pacific Art in 2009 with a large installation by Hohaia made up of over 500 poi created from natural fibre including woolen blankets. The work honours the messages of peace from Parihaka leaders

Te Whiti o Rongomai Te Whiti o Rongomai III (–18 November 1907) was a Māori spiritual leader and founder of the village of Parihaka, in New Zealand's Taranaki region. Te Whiti established Parihaka community as a place of sanctuary and peace for Māori many of ...

and Tohu Kakahi.

Exhibitions

* 2016 ''Tools of Oppression and Liberation''

Pataka Art + Museum 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 ...

* 2013 ''Navigation Pacifica,'' Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre,

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

*2013 ''Call of Taranaki,''

Puke Ariki Puke Ariki is a combined museum and library at New Plymouth, New Zealand which opened in June 2003. It is an amalgamation of the New Plymouth Public Library (founded in 1848) and the Taranaki Museum (founded in 1919). Its name, Māori for "hill ...

, New Plymouth *2013 ''Matatau,'' Bath Street Gallery, Auckland *2010 ''Manawa Wera - Defiant Chants''

Objectspace Objectspace is a public art gallery in Auckland, New Zealand. It opened in 2004 and is dedicated to the fields of craft, applied arts and design. Organisation Objectspace's founding chair was jeweller Warwick Freeman. The gallery's founding dire ...

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

* 2009 ''Ngahina Hohaia''

City Gallery Wellington City Gallery Te Whare Toi is a public art gallery in Wellington, New Zealand. History City Gallery Te Whare Toi began its life as the Wellington City Art Gallery on 23 September 1980 in a former office block located at 65 Victoria Street, now ...

*2009 ''Fibra Spirare'', Rydals Museum, Sweden - showcased five contemporary New Zealand textile artists

Personal

Hundreds of people gathered at Ōwairaka mountain in Auckland in 2020 in solidarity for Hohaia after she made a complaint with the

New Zealand police The New Zealand Police ( mi, Ngā Pirihimana o Aotearoa) is the national police service and principal law enforcement agency of New Zealand, responsible for preventing crime, enhancing public safety, bringing offenders to justice, and maintai ...

about a racial attack on her. Māori leaders spoke out against the decision made by the police not to prosecute.

References

1975 births Living people 21st-century New Zealand textile artists New Zealand Māori weavers New Zealand weavers New Zealand Māori artists 21st-century women textile artists 21st-century New Zealand women artists {{NewZealand-artist-stub