Artist Talk: Maungarongo 'Ron' Te Kawa

Toi Tauranga welcomes you to a morning of Kōrero with Artist Maungarongo ‘Ron’ Te Kawa (Ngāti Porou). Te Kawa lives in Woodville Manawatū and will be traveling to Tauranga Moana to share the stories and processes behind his exhibition Heavenly Bodies currently showing in the Cube at Toi Tauranga.

Te Kawa, has made unique, exuberantly styled quilts since the early 1990s. Using bold colour and a tactile application of materials, his practice explores mātauranga Māori, his whakapapa and atua wāhine (goddesses) with a vigour and energy that is palpably infectious. He says;

“My quilts are an invitation to celebrate the fun, colour, and magic of te ao Māori and all those things that fill my heart and heal my mind and spirit. Dance, connection to wairua and nature, whānau, whenua, stories, survival, resilience.”

Te Kawa’s Heavenly Bodies series consists of nine quilts. Each represents one of the nine stars of the Matariki star cluster, which are often personified as a mother, Matariki, and her eight children: Pōhutukawa, Tupuānuku, Tupuārangi, Waitī, Waitā, Waipunarangi, Ururangi, and Hiwa-i-te-rangi. First presented in 2022 at Season Gallery in Tāmaki Makaurau, they have been reunited by Tauranga Art Gallery, especially for Matariki. A time to reflect on the past year, celebrate the present and plan for the year ahead, Te Kawa’s work encourages us to do so with warmth, playfulness, and generosity.