Paratene Temokopuorongo Matchitt (10 August 1933 – 19 July 2021) was a New Zealand

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

and

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

, known for combining traditional

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 ...

art forms with those of modernist art. His work also references events from

New Zealand history The history of New Zealand ( Aotearoa) dates back to between 1320 and 1350 CE, when the main settlement period started, after it was discovered and settled by Polynesians, who developed a distinct Māori culture. Like other Pacific cultures, M� ...

, particularly the Māori prophetic movements of the nineteenth century and most specifically

Te Kooti Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki (c. 1832–1893) was a Māori leader, the founder of the Ringatū religion and guerrilla fighter. While fighting alongside government forces against the Hauhau in 1865, he was accused of spying. Exiled to the Cha ...

Early life

Matchitt was born in

Tokomaru Bay Tokomaru Bay is a small beachside community located on the isolated East Coast of New Zealand's North Island. It is 91 km north of Gisborne, on State Highway 35, and close to Mount Hikurangi. The district was originally known as Toka-a- ...

in 1933 of

Te Whānau-ā-Apanui Te Whānau-ā-Apanui is a Māori iwi (Iwi is the Maori word for tribe) located in the eastern Bay of Plenty and East Coast regions of New Zealand's North Island. In 2006, the iwi registered 11,808 members, representing 13 hapū. History Early ...

, Te Whakatōhea and

Ngāti Porou Ngāti Porou is a Māori iwi traditionally located in the East Cape and Gisborne regions of the North Island of New Zealand. Ngāti Porou is affiliated with the 28th Maori Battalion and has the second-largest affiliation of any iwi in New Zealand ...

descent. He was educated at St Peter’s Maori Boys' College.Paratene Matchitt, Te Pakanga series, Chartwell Collection
(retrieved 5 May 2011)

Artist

City to Sea Bridge with Michael Fowler Centre and Wellington Town Hall in background

Matchitt's art formation began with helping his father and grandfather on his workshop at

Edgecumbe Edgecumbe is a town in the Bay of Plenty of the North Island of New Zealand, 15 kilometres to the west of Whakatāne and eight kilometres south of the Bay's coast. It is the main service town for the agricultural region surrounding the plains ...

.DUNN Michael, 2002 - New Zealand Sculpture : A history. Auckland : Auckland University Press, p.134 He went to the Auckland Teachers' Training College in 1955 and 1956. After graduating as a teacher, he took a Dunedin-based course in teaching arts and crafts in schools. In 1957, he began his career as arts and crafts adviser for the South Auckland Education Board. He was one of the artists who pursued Māori Arts and Crafts courses at

Ruatoria Ruatoria ( mi, Ruatōria) is a town in the Waiapu Valley of the Gisborne Region in the northeastern corner of New Zealand's North Island. The town was originally known as Cross Roads then Manutahi and was later named Ruatorea in 1913, after the Mā ...

with

Pine Taiapa Pineamine "Pine" Taiapa (1901–1972) was a notable New Zealand wood carver, farmer, rehabilitation officer, writer and genealogist. He was one of the first students of the School of Māori Arts in Rotorua under Āpirana Ngata. As a carver ...

. In November 1964, Matchitt was exhibited with other major

artists ( Clive Arlidge and Fred Graham) in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

. At the time of the Te Pakanga commission (one of his greatest bodies of work) in 1974, Matchitt was an Arts Advisory Officer in South Auckland. Matchitt is best known for his large-scale public sculpture such as the

City to Sea Bridge The City to Sea Bridge is a pedestrian bridge and public artwork located in Wellington City, New Zealand. Opened on 31 October 1993, the wedge-shaped bridge crosses arterial road Jervois Quay, connecting the public spaces of Civic Square, Welling ...

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 ...

(1993) and Auckland’s

Aotea Centre The Aotea Centre is a performing arts and events centre in Auckland, New Zealand. Located at the western edge of Aotea Square, off Queen Street, the centre provides a cultural, entertainment and conventions venue space in the heart of the city ...

(1989).

Several of Matchitt's works use symbols taken from Te Kooti's flag ''Te Wepu (The Whip),'' a large red pennant created by nuns at a Catholic mission which had various symbols on it: a crescent moon, a cross, a mountain, a heart pierced by an arrow, and a six-pointed star. Matchitt used these symbols in several works including the City to Sea Bridge, Aotea Centre, 'Te Wepu Assemblage' (1986), 'Te Wepu' (1986), 'Huakina' (1986) and "Heritage Fountain" ("Nga Puna Wai Whakapapa"), a fountain and metal sculpture in front of Napier Visitor Information Centre. Matchitt's 'Ringatu III' in Alison Park on

Waiheke Island Waiheke Island (; Māori: ) is the second-largest island (after Great Barrier Island) in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand. Its ferry terminal in Matiatia Bay at the western end is from the central-city terminal in Auckland. It is the most pop ...

had to be restored at the cost of $8,000 after being hit by taggers.

Prison & legacy

Although Matchitt was a leading figure in contemporary art in New Zealand since the 1960s his work is currently not celebrated due to his criminal conviction. Matchitt was jailed for two and a half years in 2001, convicted of sexually abusing a 16-year-old girl. In 2006 the High Court at Napier threw out charges against Matchitt of drugging and date-raping a 29-year-old woman, citing no evidence that the woman had either been drugged or raped. Matchitt's biography influences curators and writers in their consideration of promoting and including his work, for example a survey exhibition was put aside after his conviction.

Death

Matchitt died on 19 July 2021, aged 88.

References

External links

Works in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matchitt, Paratene 1933 births 2021 deaths People educated at Hato Petera College, Auckland New Zealand painters New Zealand Māori artists People from Napier, New Zealand People associated with the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa Te Whānau-ā-Apanui people Whakatōhea people Ngāti Porou people New Zealand people convicted of child sexual abuse People from Tokomaru Bay 20th-century New Zealand sculptors 21st-century New Zealand sculptors 21st-century New Zealand male artists