Te Hono Ki Waihora

Artwork

CreatorFord, John BevanNameTe Hono Ki WaihoraDate Made1990Medium DescriptionPigmented inks on paperObject NumberLU117Dimensionssight 555 mm x 757 mmCredit LinePresented in November 1991 by Professor Jimmye S. Hillman, University of Arizona,Visiting Scholar with the Department of Economics and Marketing, and Mrs Helen Hillman.Further information‘Fine kahu (cloaks) proclaim the mana of great chiefs. The kahu in the drawings, placed as they are over the land, now extend this mana to the land itself. Both kahu and mana warm us and draw us together.’
John Bevan Ford

Te Hono Ki Waihora is part of the Te Hono or Connection series by artist John Bevan Ford. Ford grew up in Leeston until he was ten years old and chose to include the lake of his boyhood, Te Waihora Lake Ellesmere, years later when reflecting on significant landscapes of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Ford described the kākahu motif in this series as ‘one of the great symbols of mana’. Floating above Te Waihora is a kaitaka, one of the most prestigious types of cloaks reserved for rakatira because it required technical mastery and the highest quality of muka.

In the cloak that Ford has created, the pattern used to create the kaupapa, the main body of the kākahu, is the same that fills the hills and the lakeside below. The kaupapa of kaitaka is formed by tightly weaving fibres together to create a sturdy fabric.

(text by Erin Lee)Artwork CopyrightAll rights reservedArt CollectionLincoln University Art CollectionKeywordsMāoriLand | whenuaMountains | maungaCloak | kākahuKaitiakitanga | guardianshipSouth Island | Te Waipounamu

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Te Hono Ki Waihora

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