Story: Creative life

Māori perspectives (1st of 2)

Māori perspectives

This artwork, ‘Ta te whenua’, is Robert Jahnke’s response to conflicting Māori and Pākehā attitudes to land, money and power. At the time the work was created, in 1995, the New Zealand government was attempting to settle Māori land grievances through a one-off cash settlement known as the ‘fiscal envelope’. In Jahnke’s work, huge rubber stamps bearing the message ‘not negotiable’ stand on an aerial photograph of Martinborough, a small town in the Wairarapa. The streets of Martinborough were laid out in a grid representing the Union Jack, the flag of the United Kingdom.

Using this item

Auckland Art Gallery – Toi o Tāmaki
Object by Robert Jahnke

Permission of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page:

Nancy Swarbrick, 'Creative life - Visual arts and crafts', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/artwork/1811/maori-perspectives (accessed 19 April 2024)

Story by Nancy Swarbrick