Robyn Kahukiwa

Robyn Kahukiwa
Born	1938, 1940 or 1941 Sydney, Australia
Nationality	New Zealand

Robyn Kahukiwa is an artist and award-winning children's book writer and illustrator from New Zealand.

Kahukiwa was born in Sydney, Australia in 1938. She trained as a commercial artist and later moved to New Zealand at the age of nineteen. From 1972 to 1980, Kahukiwa was a regular exhibitor at the Academy in Wellington.

Part Māori on her mother's side, Kahukiwa is of Ngati Porou, Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, Ngati Hau, Ngati Konohi and Whanau-a-Ruataupare descent.

Kahukiwa's work often deals with themes of colonialism and the dispossession of indigenous people, motherhood and blood-ties, social custom and mythology. Kahukiwa gained prominence in New Zealand in the 1980s after her exhibition Wahine Toa (strong women) which toured the country. This exhibition drew on Maori myth and symbolism. One of the pieces Hinetitama is in the permanent collection at Te Manawa.

Kahukiwa's works are influenced by Colin McCahon, Ralph Hotere and Frida Kahlo.

Publications

• Taniwha (1986)
• The Koroua and the Mauri stone (1994)
• Paikea (1994)
• Kēhua (1996)
• Supa heroes: te wero (2000)
• Koha (2003)
• Matatuhi (2007)
• The forgotten Taniwha (2009)
• Tutu Taniwha (2010)
• Te Marama (2011)

With writer Patricia Grace:

• The Kuia and the Spider (1981)
• Watercress Tuna & the Children of Champion Street (1981)
• Wahine Toa: Women in Maori Myth (1984)

With Joy Cowley:

• Grandma’s stick (1982)
• Hatupatu and the birdwoman (1982)

With Rangimarie Sophie Jolley:

• The Blue Book (2014)

Awards

• 1994 Young People's Non-fiction Award (now known as Elsie Locke Award) for Paikea

Further reading

• Eggleton, David Earth and Spirit: Robyn Kahukiwa's Mauri Ora! Exhibition Art New Zealand, 2002