Ngataiharuru Taepa

Ngataiharuru Taepa (born 1976) is a New Zealand artist and academic. His art often explores traditional Māori kōwhaiwhai (rafter painting) forms.

Early life and family Taepa was born in Upper Hutt in 1976, and is of Māori (Te Āti Awa, Te Arawa) and Pākehā descent. His father is artist Wi Taepa, his brother Kereama Taepa is also an artist, His early influences included his maternal grandmother, who was a painter. Taepa focused his masters study on kōwhaiwhai panels. He reproduces the intricate forms of kowhaiwhai using modern materials and manufacturing processes including digital routers, acrylic laminates, stencils on PVC pipes and steel, and digitally carved plywood.

Taepa cites Robert Jahnke, Shane Cotton and Kura Te Waru Rewiri (who all taught him at art school) as significant influences, along with Māori language revivalists including Taiarahia Black, Ian Christensen and Pare Richardson.

In 2000, Taepa was elected onto Te Atinga, the visual arts committee of the Māori arts advocacy organisation Toi Māori Aotearoa.

As of 2015, Taepa is the Kaihautu Toi Māori – Director of Māori Arts at the College of Creative Arts at Massey University.

Taepa's work is held in a number of public collections including the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington City Council and the Auckland War Memorial Museum. 2002 Mangopare, Pataka Art + Museum, Porirua 2005 Manawa Taki – The Pulsing Heart, City Gallery Wellington 2005 RāHui: Principle of Regulation, Te Manawa, Palmerston North 2007 Telecom Prospect 2007: New Art New Zealand, City Gallery Wellington 2009 Mua Ki Muri, Pataka Art + Museum, Porirua 2009 PLASTIC MĀORI – A Tradition of Innovation, The Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt 2010 Double Vision: When Artists Collaborate, Pataka Art + Museum 2011 Ka kata te po: Hemi Macgregor, Saffronn Te Ratana and Ngataiharuru Taepa, Te Manawa 2013 Ka kata te po shown as part of the 5th Auckland Triennial, Auckland Art Gallery 2015 Te Tini a Pitau: 12 years of kowhaiwhai, Pataka Art + Museum