The five Northland artworks that are finalists in the 2025 Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award.
The five Northland artworks that are finalists in the 2025 Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award.
Five Northland artists are among the 41 finalists in the prestigious 2025 Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award competing for a first prize of $20,000.
The award, a collaboration between the Office of the Kiingitanga and the New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata, was launched in 2020to inspire a new generation of emerging Māori artists to create portraits of their tūpuna (ancestors).
They are competing for a first prize of $20,000, with the runner-up and people’s choice award each offering $2500. Entries were open to emerging Māori artists aged 35 and under who created an artwork within the last two years or specifically for the competition, using any visual medium (excluding AI-generated work), with whakapapa connections to the depicted tūpuna.
It’s not about colour, by Zoe Letica, is one of five Northland finalists in the 2025 Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award.
The shortlisted artworks were chosen by a distinguished panel of judges, including contemporary Māori artist Dr Areta Wilkinson (Ngāi Tahu), head carver for Waikato-Tainui Iwi Renta Te Waiata (Waikato-Ngāti Māhuta, Te Arawa - Ngāti Kea Ngāti Tuara), and leading painter John Walsh (Aitanga a Hauiti).
The Northland artists among the 41 finalists are Zoe Letica, from Kerikeri; Annay Kara, from Kaikohe; Mariabeth Pene, Moerewa, Joshua Kiwikiwi, Whangārei, and Elijah Revell, from Tinopai.
The winners will be announced at the exhibition opening on May 21. The finalists’ artworks will then tour Aotearoa over the next two years.
This year, the exhibition is also being displayed at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds.
Pokopoko Te Taniwha by Elijah Revell is among five Northland finalists in the 2025 Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award.
A striking range of portraits using mediums such as video, stop-motion puppetry, ceramics with paua inlay, and oil paintings on glass have been shortlisted for this year’s Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award. The finalists also include works in digital animation, handcrafted earth pigments on canvas, and textiles made from linen, cotton, and glass beads.
The biennial award was established in 2020 as a partnership between the New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata, and the late Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII to inspire a new generation of emerging Māori artists to create portraits of their tūpuna (ancestors). The 2025 award is hosted and administered by the gallery in his honour, with the blessing of Kuini Nga wai hono i te po Pootatau Te Wherowhero VIII.
Lines of Whakapapa by Joshua Kiwikiwi is one of five Northland finalists in the 2025 Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award.
Entries were received from across Aotearoa and beyond, with artists from as far north as Northland and as far south as Otago, alongside Māori artists based in Australia.
Where’s Heke, by Annay Kara is one of five Northland finalists in the 2025 Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award.
Jaenine Parkinson, director of the New Zealand Portrait Gallery, said: ‘‘The quality of entries was outstanding, with each artist showing deep respect for their tūpuna through various mediums.
“It’s incredibly inspiring to see the innovative ways emerging Māori artists are expressing their whakapapa. This award is a vital platform for young artists to share their stories on a national stage while preserving the legacy of their ancestors.”
