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Some of the Kiīgi Tūheitia Portraiture Awards finalists, from left, Tessa Williams created ‘’#It’sNotAboutATie’’; Hikurangi Tikitiki-o-Rangi Mangū carved a portrait of his tupuna ‘’Hinematikotai’’; and Suzanne Tāmaki’s ‘’Cultural Preservation’’.
The phone line crackles a little as the god of weather, Tāwhirimātea hurls Ranginui s, his father’s tears sideways outside, and artist Kura Te Waru-Rewiri’s gentle voice says she is about to travel to the Hawke’s Bay. One of three esteemed artists judging the inaugural Kīngi Tūheitia Portraiture Awards, she says it’s been a process of digital collaboration to get to a shortlist of 50 entries – she is based in Te Papaioea (Palmerston North) Sir Derek Lardelli is in Tūranganui-a-Kiwa (Gisborne) and Lisa Reihana in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland).