AARON TE WHANATANGI KEREOPA (b.1971) Aaron’s interest in carving and design dates back to his high school days at Wesley College, a boarding school in Auckland that emphasised the importance of culture to its students, many of whom hailed from Pacific backgrounds. Here he developed interests in ta moko (tattoo), kapa haka (performance) and te reo (language), and became a member of a waka taua (war canoe) group, travelling to Canadaand Hawaii as a representative of his school, the Māori Queen and Tainui, his tribe. In 1985, the Greenpeaceship Rainbow Warrior was bombed in Auckland harbour, sparking a new wave of anti-nuclear protest across New Zealand. Aaron was living with on his family land in Raglan at the time when he saw a foam blank carved with fellow surfer Kevin Barker’s message“No Nukes in the Pacific”. Inspired and wishing to express his ‘screaming silent voice’, Aaron took up some old broken surf boards and began to experiment with the koru, or spiral form, initially using a kitchen knife and spoon to carve out the foam. He shortly realised that the same techniques applied to carving wood could be used with the foam if he used different tools, with a cutting rather than chiselling action. Initially hesitant to explore this form of carving, given the respect with which Māori treat whakairo (the art of carving) and the rules that have come to be associated with the art form, Aaron has grown confident over time about
his work and his ability to take it forward. ‘A good thing about our people’ he says, ‘in the past they learnt how to adapt and move with the times. I’m just doing the same thing’. Like ta moko and whakairo, Aaron’s work utilises a visual language that acts as a code, drawing on themes both universal and personal such as mythology, geography, his tupuna (ancestors), whakapapa (genealogy), navigation, and also popular culture in the form of surf culture and comics. Although those familiar with Māori design can read some of the imagery, much of the work has personal references, such as to Manu Bay, the surf beach over which Aaron’s studio looks, and Karioi, the neighbouring mountain, which has a specific relationship with local Māori. Aaron also often integrates patterns he seesin his mother’s fibre work as a weaver of kete (bags), whariki (mats) and potae hats, each with the underlying messageof the significance of culture. ‘I believe each Māori person, or person who thinks they are Māori, has a responsibility to carry on what our people left behind. It doesn’t matter if it’s in a small way, a big way, political, creative or whatever. It’s about getting a messageout there. It’s about keeping our culture alive’ Exhibition dates: 2001 Surf Expo, Coolangatta, Australia 2003 Oxbow World Long-board Circuit Trophy, New Zealand 2005 Kete Aronui documentary, Maori TV 2006 Commonwealth GamesArt Festival, Museum of Victoria, Melbourne (joint exhibition with indigenous Australians and Canadians) 2007 Joint exhibition with Sofia Minson at Toi o Tahuna Gallery, Queenstown 2008 Solo Exhibition at Toi o Tahuna Gallery, Queenstown 2009 Solo Exhibition at Toi o Tahuna Gallery, Queenstown 2009 Maori Art Market, Porirua 2010 Solo Exhibition at Toi o Tahuna Gallery, Queenstown 2011 Joint exhibition with Sofia Minson at Toi o Tahuna Gallery, Queenstown