Selwyn Frederick Muru (born 6 September 1937), also known as Herewini Murupaenga, is a

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 ...

artist of

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 ...

descent (

Te Aupōuri Te Aupōuri is the second northernmost Māori iwi (tribal group), located north of Kaitaia, Northland, New Zealand, a region known as the Te Hiku o te Ika. The iwi is one of the six Muriwhenua iwi of the far north of the North Island. Te Reo ...

Ngāti Kurī Ngāti Kurī is a Māori iwi from Northland, New Zealand. The iwi is one of the five Muriwhenua iwi of the far north of the North Island. Ngāti Kurī trace their whakapapa (ancestry) back to Pōhurihanga, the captain of the waka (canoe) Kurahau ...

). His life's work includes, painting, sculpture, journalism, broadcasting, directing, acting, set design, theatre, poetry and whaikōrero. Muru was awarded the Te Tohu Aroha mō Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu , Exemplary/Supreme Award in 1990 at the

Creative New Zealand The Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa (Creative New Zealand) is the national arts development agency of the New Zealand government, investing in artists and arts organisations, offering capability building programmes and developing markets ...

Te Waka Awards.

Biography

Muru was born in

Te Hāpua Te Hāpua is a community on the shores of the Parengarenga Harbour in Northland, New Zealand. The road to Te Hāpua leaves State Highway 1 at Waitiki Landing. Te Hāpua is the most northerly settlement in the North Island of New Zealand. The 2 ...

, Northland, in 1937. He is Māori and affiliated with the

iwi 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 ...

and

. He is a self-taught artist although he did receive some instruction from

Kāterina Mataira Dame Kāterina Te Heikōkō Mataira (13 November 1932 – 16 July 2011) was a New Zealand Māori language proponent, educator, intellectual, artist and writer. Her efforts to revive and revitalise the Māori language ( te reo Māori) led to the ...

while at Northland College. He went on attend Ardmore Teachers' College specialising in arts and crafts. He taught at Matakana District High School and Huiarau Primary in

Ruatāhuna Ruatāhuna is a small town in the remote country of Te Urewera, in the northeast of New Zealand's North Island. It is 90 kilometres directly west of Gisborne, and 18 kilometres northwest of Lake Waikaremoana. By road, it is 50 kilometres south-e ...

. He became a part-time art tutor at

Mount Eden Prison Mount Eden Prisons consists of two separate facilities in the Auckland, New Zealand suburb of Mount Eden — the Mount Eden Prison and the Mount Eden Corrections Facility. History The original Mount Eden prison was a military stockade built i ...

in 1962. After a solo exhibition and a feature article in ''Te Ao Hou'', by 1964 Muru had become established as an artist. In 1964 he worked on the John O’Shea (

Pacific Films Pacific Films is a film production company in New Zealand. It is not to be confused with other companies with the name, including the film company in Hawaii that produced Phantom Below''. History The Pacific Film Unit was established in Welling ...

) feature film ''Runaway'', where he was building sets and also had a small acting role. He began his broadcasting career in 1966. An exhibition Muru curated in 1969, ''The Work of Maori Artists'', was the first group show of contemporary Māori art at the National Art Gallery of New Zealand (now

Te Papa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...

). Muru has said: "Māori art has always been contemporary." Muru, poet

Hone Tuwhare Honing is a kind of metalworking. Hone may also refer to: * Hone (name) (incl. Hōne), a list of people with the surname, given name or nickname * Hõne language Hõne is a Jukunoid language spoken in Gombe State and Taraba State, Nigeria ...

and artist

Para Matchitt Paratene Temokopuorongo Matchitt (10 August 1933 – 19 July 2021) was a New Zealand sculptor and Painting, painter, known for combining traditional Māori culture, Māori art forms with those of modernist art. His work also references events fr ...

founded the Māori Writers and Artists’ Association (Nga Puna Waihanga) in 1973.

Broadcasting

In 1967 Muru was appointed assistant to the Head of Programmes,

New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation The New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation (NZBC) was a publicly owned company of the New Zealand Government founded in 1962. The Broadcasting Act 1976 then reformed NZBC as the Broadcasting Corporation of New Zealand (BCNZ). The corporation was ...

. In this role he created ''Te Puna Wai Kōrero'', 'a weekly current affairs programme in English on northern Māori issues'. He began presenting in the early 1970s on ''Te Reo o Te Pipiwharauroa,'' weekly current affairs in 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 ...

(replacing Ted Nia). The first Māori programme to air on prime-time television was ''Below Koha'' in 1982''.'' Muru along with Aroaro Hond, Robert Puwhare, Mona Papali'l and Ernie Leoard were involved.

Artwork

A significant public sculpture by Muru is ''Waharoa'', an entrance gate to

Aotea Square Aotea Square is a large paved public area in the CBD of Auckland, New Zealand. Officially opened in 1979 by Sir Dove-Myer Robinson next to Queen Street, it is used for open-air concerts and gatherings, and markets and political rallies. In Nov ...

in Auckland. Represented are carvings of Tama nui te Ra (God of the Sun), Tangaroa (God of the Sea), Tane Mahuta (God of the Forest), Tawhiri Matea (God of the Elements) and Whetu me te Marama (the crescent moon and stars). In the 1980s Muru's work with recycled timber has been described as a 'leitmotif' or recurrent theme amongst several Māori artists including

Ralph Hotere Hone Papita Raukura "Ralph" Hotere (11 August 1931 – 24 February 2013) was a New Zealand artist. He was born in Mitimiti, Northland and is widely regarded as one of New Zealand's most important artists. In 1994 he was awarded an honorary do ...

and Bruce Stewart by art critic Rangihiroa Panaho. Panaho calls this a re-appropriation. Curator Nigel Borell displayed two of Muru's artworks in the 2022 survey of contemporary Māori art ''Toi Tū Toi Ora'' at

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 ...

– ''Resurrections of Te Whiti over Taranaki'' (1975–77) and ''Te Whiti and Tohu over Taranaki'' (1975–77), paintings that feature the mountain Taranaki and the Māori 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 Kākahi Tohu Kākahi (c. 1828 – 4 February 1907) was a Māori leader, a warrior leader in the anti government Hau Hau Movement 1864-66 and later a prophet at Parihaka, who along with Te Whiti o Rongomai organised passive resistance against the occupati ...

. The

New Zealand Portrait Gallery The New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata is an art gallery located in Wellington, New Zealand, in the Waterfront Shed 11 building. History The gallery was registered as a charitable trust in 1990. In 2005 the board hired its first ...

held a retrospective exhibition entitled ''Selwyn Muru: A Life's Work'' for three months starting in November 2022. Collections that hold his work include

and Auckland Art Gallery.

Exhibitions

Selected exhibitions * Ikon Gallery, Auckland (1963) * ''Contemporary New Zealand Art,'' Japan and South East Asia (1963) * ''New Zealand Māori Council exhibition'', National Art Gallery, Wellington (1969) * ''Contemporary Maori Art,''

Waikato Museum of Art and History Waikato Museum ( mi, Te Whare Taonga o Waikato) is a regional museum located in Hamilton, New Zealand. The museum manages ArtsPost, a shop and gallery space for New Zealand art and design. Both are managed by the Hamilton City Council. Outside ...

, Hamilton (1976) * ''Kohia ko Taikaka Anake'',

National Art Gallery List of national galleries is a list of national art galleries. {{tocright Africa *Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa *National Art Gallery of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia The Americas *Galería Nacional, San Juan, Puerto ...

, Wellington (1990) * '' Te Waka Toi: Contemporary Maori Art'', (tour to the United States) (1992) * ''Toi Tū Toi Ora: Contemporary Māori Art,'' Auckland Art Gallery (Sat 5 December 2020 – Sun 9 May 2021)

References

External links

Records held at the National Library of New Zealand

Artworks at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muru, Selwyn 1937 births 21st-century New Zealand artists 21st-century New Zealand male artists New Zealand Māori artists Living people Ngāti Kurī people Te Aupōuri people People from the Northland Region