I tae mai a Ahorangi Robert Jahnke ki Te Kunenga ki PÅ«rehuroa i te tau 1991 me tana whÄinga: kia waihanga i te tohu paetahi toi MÄori tuatahi. He pÅ«kenga kua ako ki te tuhi, te hoahoa me te waihanga kiriataata, i mÅhio a Ahorangi Jahnke e whanake ai te kaupapa me noho ki te tÅ«Äpapa ko te whakaaro MÄori – me te whakakÄ« i tÄ“tahi Äputa e whakaakona ai te hÄ«tori toi:
"I a au e ako ana i te Elam School of Fine Arts i California, i ako ahau mÅ ngÄ kaitoi katoa o te ao – hÄunga ngÄ mea MÄori. KÄore tÄ“tahi pepa i aro ki ngÄ kaitoi MÄori, ngÄ mea onamata, ngÄ mea inamata hoki. I whea tÄ rÄtau koha ki te toi me ngÄ mÄtauranga?"
I whakarewaina a Toioho ki Ä€piti i te tau 1995, Ä, i para i te huarahi mÅ te tohu paetahi toi. Ko ngÄ tohu paerua, tohu kairangi hoki i whai i ngÄ tau Å muri. I ia tau ka ako ngÄ tauira i te reo MÄori, te ahurea toi MÄori me Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Ä, ka waihanga mahi e tÅ«hono ana ki te tÄhÅ« matua – te mana whakapapa i te tau tuatahi ki te mana tangata i te tau tuawhÄ. Ko te akoranga ka tuku i ngÄ tauira ki tÄ“tahi tÅ«Äoma e ako ai rÄtau mÅ rÄtau anÅ, e whakakÄ«ia ai i Å rÄtau kete mÄtauranga, e whakakoitia ai hoki tÄ rÄtau titiro:
"He karenga tÅrangapÅ«, ohotata hoki ki te whakatipu ringa toi, kaiwhai whakaaro, pÅ«kenga mÄtauranga hoki e aro ana ki konei [Aotearoa] tÄ“rÄ i te toenga o te ao. Me mÄrama ki a mÄtau ko wai mÄtau, kei whea mÄtau, me Ä mÄtau mahi i konei, i tÄ“nei wÄ, i tÄ“nei wÄhi hoki."
Ka akiaki a Ahorangi Jahnke i ana tauira kia waihanga tonu i runga i Å rÄtau mÅhiotanga ka Äkona i tÄ“nei akoranga ki te whakaputa mahi kÄore e here ana i ngÄ whakaaro ki tÄ“nei mea te toi taketake e mÅhiotia ana. Ka hÄngai tÄ“nei ki tÄna whai i Äna mahi toi, ka whakauruurua ko ngÄ toirau, me ngÄ tÄera hei tirotiro i te whakaaro, te hÄ«tori me te tÅrangapÅ« MÄori. Ko tÄ“tahi tinana hipi mate e korowaitia ana ka kÅrero mÅ ngÄ pÄnga kino ki te MÄori i ngÄ tau whakamutunga o te 1980, i te wÄ i kati ai te whare patu mÄ«ti i Te Matau a MÄui. Ko ngÄ ngongo haukura, kua apokia ki ngÄ tauira pÅ«rite, ka whakakÅrero i te kunenga o te kore me te pÅ. Ko ngÄ pakoko rama ka whakapapatia ki raro, taiÄwhio hoki i ngÄ rotarota nÄ ngÄ kaituhi taketake, mÅ te takakino ki te ao mÄori.
"Ko NgÄi MÄori kÄore e kite i ngÄ tauira MÄori i aku mahi i ngÄ wÄ katoa. Heoi ko te kaupapa e hÄngai ana ki a tÄtau i ngÄ wÄ katoa. Ä€, koirÄ tÄ“tahi akoranga ki aku tauira: Kaua e warea ki te Ähua MÄori kore o Äu mahi – ka taea te whakatakoto tÅ«Äpapa MÄori. Ä€, i Ä“tahi wÄ ka nui atu te kÅrero mÄ te kawe ki tua i ngÄ here taketake."
Ko ngÄ taunakitanga nui mÅ te angitÅ« o ngÄ kaupapa kua whakatÅ«ria e ia, e ai ki a ia, ko te tipu o ngÄ ihu puta ka piki i Äna tohutohu.
He nui aku ihu puta kei te whakatipu ingoa mÅ rÄtau anÅ mÄ te whakamahi toi tÅ«turu, toi whakawhiti hoki. He tino ngahau! Kei te tiki rÄtau i ngÄ mÄtauranga e ako nei rÄtau i ngÄ akoranga me te tÅ«hono ki ngÄ toi tÅ«turu mÄ te whakamahi pouara GNG, tÄ ahutoru me te raweke muka tini. NÅ reira kei konei ahau, e mÄtaki ana, e whakaaro ana kei te tika pea aku mahi.
Professor Robert Jahnke was brought to ÃÛ¶¹ÊÓƵin 1991 with a mission: to create the country’s first undergraduate degree in MÄori visual arts.
An academic and an artist trained in illustration, design and experimental animation, Professor Jahnke knew that to be transformative the programme had to be grounded in MÄori ways of thinking – and to fill an obvious gap in how art history was taught:
"As a student at the Elam School of Fine Arts and in California, I'd learned about every artist in the world — except for those who were MÄori. Not a single paper focused on MÄori artists, past or contemporary. Where was their contribution to art and knowledge?"
Toioho ki Ä€piti was launched in 1995, and set the pathway for later Bachelor of MÄori Visual Arts degrees. Master’s and PhD programmes followed a few years later. Each year, undergraduates study te reo MÄori, MÄori visual culture and Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and create work that engages with a hefty central theme – from mana whakapapa (genealogical legacy) in the first year, to mana tangata (human empowerment) in the fourth. The programme sends students on a journey of self-discovery, building their knowledge and sharpening their perception:
"There’s a political undercurrent, and an urgency to make sure that we’re creating artists, theorists and academics whose whole focus is here [Aotearoa] rather than on the rest of the world. We need to understand who we are, where we are and what we need to do here, now, and in this place."
Professor Jahnke encourages his students to build on the understanding they gain on the programme to create work that isn’t limited by expectations about what indigenous art should look like. This chimes with his own signature approach to his art, which uses an eclectic mix of media and techniques to explore MÄori thought, history, and politics.
A sculpted lead-cloaked sheep carcass comments on the damage done to MÄori in the late 1980s, when Hawkes Bay’s freezing works closed. Neon tubes, stacked in concentric patterns, conjure the creation-narrative of reality emerging out of te kore and pÅ, the void and the darkness. Light sculptures are layered under and around poems, by indigenous writers, on the destruction of the natural world.
"MÄori can’t always see the MÄori elements in my work. But the kaupapa is always about us. And that’s something I say to my students: Don’t worry that your work doesn’t look MÄori – you can ground it within a MÄori kaupapa. And sometimes, you can say more by taking it beyond the restraints of tradition."
Perhaps the best evidence of the success of the programmes he has created, he believes, is the growing number of graduates who ignore this advice.
"A lot of my graduates are now creating names for themselves by using toi tūturu and toi whakawhiti, or what I call “customary†and “trans-customary†forms. It’s very interesting! They’re taking the conceptual knowledge they gain on the programmes and reengaging with customary forms, using GNG routers, 3D printing, and even manipulating fibre in its myriad forms. So here I am, watching, thinking I must be doing something right."
Professor Robert Jahnke
NgÄi Taharora, Te WhÄnau a Iritekura, and Te WhÄnau a Rakairo o NgÄti Porou