Riki Henare Manuel (born 1960) is a New Zealand Māori carver and tohunga moko (Māori tattoo expert) of Ngāti Porou descent.

Biography

Born in Oamaru in 1960 and one of six siblings, Manuel was brought up in Rakaia, before moving to Cobden, on the West Coast, when he was 10. His parents, Manakohia Manuel from the

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and Beverley, a Scandinavian from Southland, separated when he was 13. Having left school, Manuel tried to enrol at the

New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute The New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute (NZMACI) is an indigenous traditional art school located in Rotorua New Zealand. It operates the national schools of three major Māori art forms. NZMACI opened in 1963 as a successor school ...

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompass ...

at 15 but was initially declined due to his young age. He successfully enrolled in 1977 where he studied for three years and was taught by master carver

Hōne Taiapa Hōne Te Kāuru Taiapa (10 August 1912 – 10 May 1979), also known as John Taiapa, was a Māori master wood carver and carpenter of Ngāti Porou. He was the younger brother of master Māori carver Pine Taiapa. The two brothers worked closely ...

. His father, though fluent in te reo Māori (the

Māori language Māori (), or ('the Māori language'), also known as ('the language'), is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. Closely related to Cook Islands Māori, Tuamotuan, and ...

), did not share the language with his children being forbidden to speak it at school, prompting Manuel to teach himself Māori and to send his children to kura kaupapa Māori to support their education in te reo. On moving to Christchurch he met and married his wife Vivienne with whom he has six children.

Commissioned art

One of Manuel's highest profiled works is the six-metre-high

pou whenua Pouwhenua or pou whenua (land post), are carved wooden posts used by Māori, the indigenous peoples of New Zealand to mark territorial boundaries or places of significance. They are generally artistically and elaborately carved and can be found ...

carved in tōtara that stands beside the Avon River / Ōtākaro in Victoria Square, Christchurch. Commissioned by Ngāi Tahu, it was unveiled in December 1994 as part of the 1990 commemorations of the Treaty of Waitangi, and depicts two main themes – mahinga kai (food resource) and tūpuna (ancestors). Another commissioned artwork is the frosted window design at the entrance to

Burwood Hospital The Canterbury District Health Board (Canterbury DHB or CDHB) was a district health board with the focus on providing healthcare to the Canterbury region of New Zealand, north of the Rangitata River. It was responsible for roughly 579,000 reside ...

incorporating native kawakawa melding with the Tree of Hippocrates, a legendary plane tree under which the physician was purported to have taught medicine. Two other significant artworks by Manuel are at

Tūranga Tūranga is the main public library in Christchurch, New Zealand. It opened on 12 October 2018 and replaced the nearby Christchurch Central Library that was closed on the day of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. Location and prior buildings Tūr ...

, the main library in Christchurch. They are ''Kākano Puananī'', which tells the Ngāi Tahu creation story, and ''Tūhura'', the design on the exterior basalt wall on Colombo Street alluding to the voyaging of generations from Hawaiki to Te Waipounamu. Manuel was the lead carver for the wharenui, Wheke, at Rāpaki (Te Wheke) Marae, at

Te Rāpaki-o-Te Rakiwhakaputa Te Rāpaki-o-Te Rakiwhakaputa, commonly known as Rāpaki or Rapaki, is a small settlement within the Lyttelton Harbour basin. Rāpaki is one of four Banks Peninsula ''rūnanga'' (communities) based around ''marae'' (tribal meeting grounds). The ...

, which he worked on with Fayne Robinson, and was opened in 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manuel, Riki 1960 births Living people New Zealand carvers New Zealand Māori carvers Ngāti Porou people People from Oamaru