Tawhanga Nopeara is a Maori academic and artist. He is of
takatāpui identity,
and of
Te Arawa,
Ngati Tuwharetoa and
Ngapuhi descent.
Education
Nopera completed a creative practice Ph.D. from the
University of Waikato in 2016.
He is the first graduate from the creative practice PhD programme. His thesis was entitled, "huka can haka: Taonga performing tino rangatiratanga."
Career
Nopera is a leading Kaupapa Maori thinker on topics such as indigenous trauma, Maori sexuality, indigenous identity issues, and
takatapui culture.
His work is part of the permanent collection of the
Bishop Museum
The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, designated the Hawaii State Museum of Natural and Cultural History, is a museum of history and science in the historic Kalihi district of Honolulu on the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu. Founded in 1889, it is the lar ...
in Honolulu; and the
C.N. Gorman Museum
C.N. Gorman Museum is a museum focused on Native American and Indigenous artists, founded in 1973 at University of California, Davis (UC Davis) in Davis, California.
History
The C.N. Gorman Museum was founded in 1973 by the Department of Nativ ...
at the
University of California at Davis. He did a presentation on digital storytelling as a visiting scholar.
Tāwhanga is an advocate for people living with
HIV in Aoteaora, New Zealand; and has been on the board of Body Positive Aotearoa since 2016. Tāwhanga is the current Co-Chair. Nopera is on the board of advisors of Visual Aids.
Personal life
Nopera identifies as
takatāpui.
Bibliography
Nopera, T. (2015
Tranny Tricks: The Blending and Contouring of Raranga Research ''Journal of Global Indigeneity'', 1(1), 2015.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nopera, Tawhanga
New Zealand Māori academics
New Zealand Māori artists
University of Waikato alumni
Living people
New Zealand LGBT artists
Ngāti Tūwharetoa people
Ngāpuhi people
Year of birth missing (living people)