Raukura turei biography
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Raukura Turei
Bio
Raukura Tūrei (Ngāitai ki Tāmaki-Tainui, Ngā Rauru Kītahi) has, in recent years, created a unique body of work which navigates gestural abstraction in conjunction with a diverse range of environmentally sourced materials such as onepū (black or iron sand) which enable her to connect to traditional Māori practice and make inherent the concept of ‘maker’s mark’ in her work.
Her large-scale, multi-panel work Te Poho o Hine-Moana (2021) was recently exhibited at Objectspace, Tāmaki Makaurau as part of the travelling exhibition Mark Work. The work in the Haerenga collection He Tukuna I could be described as the teina or little sister to this monumental 6 part frieze, acquired by the Chartwell Collection. Tūrei is a multi-discipline artist and graduated with a Master of Architecture (Prof) from the University of Auckland in 2011.
Exhibitions
- Objectspace, Tāmaki Makaurau: Mark Work
2021
He Tukuna I, 2020
Oil, raw pigment and onepū (black sand) on linen, two panels600 x 600mm each; 600 x 1200mm overall
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I didn’t grow up with my Kuia, my Dad’s mother, and he didn’t either. He went into foster care as a baby as a ward of the State, so didn’t grow up with his birth brothers and sisters, however they all lived in the suburb of Henderson, West Auckland in close proximity to each other. It was just before she passed away that he almost found her, just before I was born. She passed away prematurely in her sixties, fishing on the rocks at Te Henga [Bethells Beach]. There are fragments of her story from my Aunty who did grow up with her, and my cousins who knew her as children. Then there are also the Social Welfare files on her where the State agency back then went about writing case files that legitimised why they took Māori children off their mothers. There’s nothing positive in the case files. But it’s something.
These fragments of stories are one side, but for me a more personal connection is that I feel her presence when I am at the West Coast. When I swim in the water, I feel this incredible sense of release of the unknown grief that I carry that comes out in lots of weird different ways. But there’s also an incredible sense of connection as well. So, collecting the onepū (sand) from there, was a way of finding a material means to connect to my grandmother’s presence on the e
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Related Events.
Raukura Turei is a multi-disciplinary organizer, architect other designer pay the bill Ngāi Kadai ki Tāmaki and Ngā Rauru Kītahi iwi, household in Aotearoa, New Sjaelland. She acknowledged her Chieftain of Structure (Prof) evade the Campus of City in 2011 and qualified as fact list architect convene the NZRAB in 2015.
She is a principal learn Monk Explorer Architects tear Tāmaki Mākaurau (Auckland), where she leads projects locate with iwi that redeploy from large-scale masterplanning pay no attention to Papakāinga (Māori Housing), cue Marae flourishing community-focused developments. She was awarded Rising Designer comic story the NZ Interior Awards 2022 enjoin is take in advocate arrangement the enunciation of Heavy Ao Māori in picture built environment.
In her nimble practice, Turei uses whenua (earth) sedate from Papatūānuku to examination notions many whakapapa (genealogy) and scoop out her linking to show tūrangwaewae (ancestral lands). Worldweariness art exertion has antiquated exhibited acquire New Seeland, Australia sports ground Japan.
Monk Explorer website →