'Among many Wairarapa taonga, we are trying to locate a portrait of the significant Māori rangatira Piripi Iharaira of Gladstone, which is believed to have been painted by Gottfried Lindauer.'
Hutchison would love to see the portrait take its place beside paintings of Wairarapa rangatira from the Aratoi collection and further afield with other significant Wairarapa taonga for a major exhibition and series of region-wide public programmes based around the Ngati Kahunungu-Tamaki Nui a Rua (Tararua) Treaty Settlement.
Chief Piripi Iharaira had a Pa at Whareama and also had 'Take’ (ownership) of the Hinana Pa at Gladstone, where his descendants lived. Only one side of his face was tattooed as he died before the other side could be completed.
Chief Piripi’s story is one of many Kahungunu stories that will be told in the exhibition. It will chart the history of the region from the arrival of the first people and colonial settlers, to the impact of the Treaty of Waitangi on the rohe, and redressing the past in the 21st century. There are plans to involve young Maori artists in a section on contemporary Kahungunu, celebrating visions for the future.
Aratoi is currently working with Ngati Kahungunu on the exhibition content and public programmes that are hoped to extend throughout the region as did the ‘Wairarapa Moana’ exhibition in 2011.
The exhibition will be timely as it coincides with the settlement of a major Treay claim for the iwi with the Crown. Minister Chris Finlayson will be signing off the Agreement In Principle for the Settlement this Saturday. There are plans to focus on Rangitane iwi in a future exhibition, says Hutchison.
Close to home
Hutchison recently visited the Fowler Museum in Los Angeles where she had the privilege of holding an ornately carved wahaika or short club that once belonged to Tamahau Mahupuku, a significant leader at Papawai Marae in the 1890s.
There are around 2,000 taonga related to Wairarapa and north to Norsewood currently in museums in New Zealand and overseas, according to The Ngati Kahungungu-Tamaki Nui a Rua Trust. Reconnecting those taonga from outside the region, either temporarily for the exhibition or permanently, is an exciting possibility.
'We are most fortunate to be working with the direct descendants of these people here in Wairarapa,' says Hutchison.
Ngati Kahungunu-Tamaki Nui a Rua exhibition, planning under way to open 4th March 2017.
Caption: The portrait of Chief Piripi Iharaira, which Aratoi hopes to locate.