Phillida Reid is honoured to present Robyn Kahukiwa, a gathering of work by the revered Aotearoa New Zealand artist (1938 – 2025, Ngāti Porou, Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, Ngāti Konohi, Te Whānau-a-Ruataupare). This exhibition has been put together in accordance with Kahukiwa’s wishes before her passing in April of this year, with the devoted support of Reina Kahukiwa and Season.
Spanning three decades of Kahukiwa’s career, from the 1990s to 2024, the exhibition comprises paintings and drawings from institutional collections, private individuals, and the artist’s estate. Kahukiwa’s work was last shown outside of Aotearoa at Sharjah Biennial 15: Thinking Historically in the Present (2023). This will be the first exhibition of her work in London since 1999’s Māori!, presented at Maud Sulter’s gallery Rich Women of Zurich.
"The art of Robyn Kahukiwa is based on whakapapa and our connection to our Tūpuna Māori [Māori ancestors]; it is an expression of the beauty, culture, and rights of Māori people. In Robyn’s own words, her artworks reflect the mana and status of her people, along with their strength, resilience, dynamism and continuance. Robyn’s core themes of whakapapa [genealogy] and Tūpuna are embodied in the values and wisdom handed down from our ancestors, as in the following whakataukī [saying], where the importance of whakapapa, the past, present and future are intertwined:
Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua
I walk backwards into the future with my eyes fixed on my past"
—Reina Kahukiwa, Tangata Whenua: Recent works by Robyn Kahukiwa, 2023
With heartfelt thanks to Reina Kahukiwa, the estate of Robyn Kahukiwa, Francis McWhannell, Jade Townsend, and all those who have generously loaned work.
