From the MTG: Gary Waldrom painting captures the promise of youth

Young Labourer by Gary Waldrom. Collection of Hawke's Bay Museums Trust, Ruawharo Tā-ū-rangi. Photo / Supplied

This week we celebrated International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples and International Youth Day.

Indigenous Peoples Day acknowledges the vast diversity of unique cultures, traditions, languages and knowledge systems of indigenous people across the globe. It's also a poignant reminder of the diverse worldviews and priorities that are often lost in environmental, social and economic outcomes throughout the world.

International Youth Day is a time to consider the future we are building for all our young people, here and across the world. It's also a day to celebrate the achievements of our young people.

What better way to acknowledge these commemorative days than with this wonderful work Young Labourer by Waipawa artist Gary Waldrom, a part of the Hawke's Bay Museums Trust Collection.

This portrait from the 1970s has a completely different feel than Waldrom's recent work and in my books is a real gem.

Young Labourer seems to borrow much from its time. In the seventies, with the Māori protest movement gathering momentum, indigenous stories were increasingly visible in the arts as writers such as Patricia Grace and Witi Ihimaera broke new ground - telling stories from the Māori world to the mainstream population.

Artists such as Selwyn Muru, Robyn Kahukiwa and the late Paratene Matchitt changed our cultural landscape by presenting Māori subjects and giving Māori visibility that was sorely lacking, even in their own country.

This work also owes much to New Zealand painters such as Raymond McIntyre, Toss Woollaston and Peter McIntyre. Candid in style, Young Labourer borrows from the legacy of McIntyre who was one of the first to give his figures an explicitly Māori physicality, something rarely seen in New Zealand painting before the 1950s.

Waldrom's beautiful portrait shows a young lad as he emerges into adulthood. In the work, the sitter's body language is emphasised, communicating both his promise and his diffidence.

Eyes looking out of the frame, our "labourer" seems focused on something other than having his portrait painted – a youthful attentiveness to the future perhaps. With his hand on his upper arm however, there is a reticence, accentuated by the heavy shadow anchoring him to the background, as if holding him back.

Waldrom has rather brilliantly captured both the potential and the uncertainty of youth and it's worth remembering that he himself wouldn't have been much older when he painted this portrait.

Of course there is change since the seventies, young Māori are celebrated as super stars in the sports arena or in universities having broken through glass ceilings of that time. Initiatives such as Project Rangatahi or Hikoi of Hope, organised by Ngāti Kahungunu rangatahi, remind us that our Kahungunu youth are achieving amazing things.

The real power in this work by Waldrom is in giving Māori visibility, so that our young people can see themselves out there in the world. A simple act of empowerment.

International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples and International Youth Day give us pause for thought and are two days well worth acknowledging.

This work by Waldrom is part of the Hawke's Bay Museums Trust Collection and can be viewed on the MTG Hawke's Bay Tai Ahuriri website.

• Toni Mackinnon is art curator at MTG