Toi-Ahu 2003
by Wi Te Tau Pirika Taepa (born 1946), Te Arawa/Ngati Pikiao/Te Ati Awa
raku bodied clay, gas-fired with oxides
On loan from the artist

Honour
A waka koiwi is a carved wooden container made to hold the bones of ancestors. Wi Taepa has based this vessel on the waka koiwi form, but has given it a contemporary design.

This piece was made to honour some of New Zealand’s major artists of the last two centuries, including Anaha Te Rahui, Wero, Taunu Taepa, McCahon, Lusk, and Woollaston.

Wi has honoured these artists in a ceremonial way ‘using a shape I can put back into my own culture’. The grooves in the clay resemble the moko kauae (chin tattoo lines) of Māori women.