Kiwi artist gifts collection to Te Papa

Kiwi artist gifts collection to Te Papa

17 Mar 2010

Prominent Kiwi photographer Marti Friedlander has gifted a priceless art collection to Te Papa - New Zealand’s national museum.

The collection, called The Moko Suite, consists of 47 portrait photographs of Maori kuia (female elders) with chin moko or traditional tattoos. Te Papa’s acting chief executive, Michelle Hippolite said the museum was overwhelmed by Friedlander’s generous gift.

"The whakahua (portraits) capture the whakapapa (genealogy) and art of moko and the lives of kuia in the 1970s. These truly are national taonga (treasure) and Te Papa is exploring how they can be made available to as many New Zealanders as possible," said Hippolite.

The Moko Suite was originally taken by Friedlander to illustrate Kiwi historian Michael King’s 1972 book Moko - Maori Tattooing in the Twentieth Century. King and Friedlander toured New Zealand to capture these remarkable kuia at a time when it was thought the art of moko might be lost to future generations.

Portraits deeply moving
The idea for the gift was broached by the late former Te Papa chief executive Seddon Bennington about two years ago. Friedlander didn’t hesitate in offering up her precious prints to the museum. She was deeply touched at seeing all 47 portraits together again for a brief exhibition before their big move.

"I’ve never ever wanted to sell these photographs. It’s something that belongs to the nation," she said.

The portraits will be displayed at FHE Galleries in Auckland until March 20, before moving to their new home in Wellington, New Zealand’s capital and the location of Te Papa.

Marti Friedlander
Born in London, Marti Friedlander moved to New Zealand in 1958 and has lived here since.

She is an internationally recognised and well-respected professional photographer and artist who cover diverse subjects; from portraits to urban, rural and suburban scenes.

"My photography has always been about involvement and extension of a personal view of life, rather than a particular attention to the craft itself. As a photographer, I see images everywhere."

Friedlander is most-known for her distinctly New Zealand prints of elderly Maori women with moko, such as the kuia featured in The Moko Suite. She also photographs artists, writers, vintners and children. Her work has been exhibited all over New Zealand and other parts of the world, including London’s famous Photographers’ Gallery.

Te Papa: The museum of New Zealand
Te Papa Tongarewa is the name for the national museum of New Zealand. Its full name means "the place of treasures of this land", but it is more informally simply known as Te Papa, or our place. The museum is located in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand and was first founded in 1992.

Te Papa was officially opened in February, 1998 by then Prime Minister Jenny Shipley. The site where Te Papa now stands was previously occupied by a five-storey hotel - the hotel building was moved down the road to a new location and is now called the Museum Hotel, an iconic Wellington institution.

ENDS

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