The Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award is a competition that encourages young Maaori artists to create portraits of their tupuna (ancestors) in any medium. The Award is hosted and administered by Te Pūkenga Whakaata the New Zealand Portrait Gallery in honour of the late Maaori King, Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII.

In response to the Tuia 250 event, Me Anga Whakamua – Facing the Future, explores the impact of the first encounters between Māori and Europeans. Emotive photographic portraits of tāngata whenua, their thoughts and aspirations offer a window into everyday lives of Māori looking back to the past to form a pathway to a shared future. 

Image: Diane Stoppard, Papanui Polamalu, 2019, Silver gelatin print, Courtesy Hihiaua Cultural Centre

Gavin Hurley’s portraits substantiate, interfere and play with the role of portraiture as a tool for the crafting and performance of public personae.  

Image: Gavin Hurley, Standing on Moonlight, 2021, courtesy of the artist.

A picture is a whole world unto itself.

Step beyond the frame and see what you find. Background Matters asks what can be revealed when we view the sitter of a portrait in the expanded field of their surroundings. In bringing the background to the fore, this exhibition subverts the hierarchy of subject and setting to consider the portraiture of Aotearoa New Zealand from a fresh vantage point.

Image: Nicolette Page, Carmen, Oil on board, 2012. Collection New Zealand Portrait Gallery, Gift of the artist