Whakapapa
Kahukiwa began painting as a young housewife in Greymouth in the late 1960s. A belief in whakapapa underpins her work: ‘My identity in things Maori is made possible because of my ancestors. It exists because of whakapapa, tribal culture and tradition. My links with the past are as important to me as the fact of my being, my future and the future of my children.’
Te Papa holds eighteen works by Robyn Kahukiwa.