Toi Te Mana: An Indigenous History of Māori Art: WORD Christchurch Festival 2025

An eager crowd found their seats at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū to hear details of Toi Te Mana, a landmark account of Māori art. Toi Te Mana: An Indigenous History of Māori Art has garnered much critical acclaim already, winning the 2025 BookHub Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. It is published by both Auckland University and Chicago University Press. The sheer size of the book demonstrates the staggering breadth and depth of research from its authors, Deidre Brown and Ngarino Ellis.

Toi Te Mana

Deidre Brown (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu) has an outstanding list of distinctions to her name, including the winner of the Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects 2023 Gold Medal, a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand Te Apārangi, 2021 and co-authoring Art in Oceania, the winner of the 2014 Art Book Prize.

Ngarino Ellis (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou) is also at the vanguard of her field, winning the Faculty of Arts He Tōtara Whakamarumaru: Mātauranga Māori Excellence Award in 2021, the 2020 Royal Society Early Career Research Excellence Award for Humanities, and co-authoring A Whakapapa of Tradition: One Hundred Years of Ngāti Porou carving which won the 2017 Ockham award for Illustrated Non-Fiction.

Brown and Ellis worked closely with Jonathan Mane-Wheoki (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kurī, Te Aupōuri), CNZM, whose contributions to the art world of Aotearoa and the Pacific over fifty years were simply staggering. Whilst Mane-Wheoki worked on the Toi Te Mana project for a number of years, he passed away prior to the publication of the book.

Unlike many other art history books, Toi Te Mana does not follow a chronological order. Instead, the book is organised according to Ngā Kete e Toru, three kete retrieved by Tāne. These are Te Kete Tuatea (continuum of toi Māori within a customary world), Te Kete Tuauri (addressing adversities and opportunities arising from Pākehā), and Te Kete Aronui (increasing pan-tribal customary art movements, contemporary Māori art and their exhibitions). This approach avoids ‘progressivism’ and respects mātauranga systems.

Brown and Ellis were informed by tikanga when writing Toi Te Mana. Utu (‘reciprocity’) was used to represent a balanced discussion between two iwi as necessary. This was due to occasional tensions over which iwi the mana of the taonga principally sat with, and some compromises had to be made. The authors admitted some contributors were easier to work with than others, but many were very generous. Peter Robinson enthused, ‘you can be as critical as you want!’ but the authors were quick to clarify that it wasn’t that kind of book. It took five years for the image permissions to be granted, and the irony is not lost on Ellis that her uncle was the only one who didn’t grant permission. Other tikanga included not writing in spaces where kai was prepared or eaten, or in front of tamariki, particularly when writing about the deceased.

The concept of gender and sexuality also came up when writing about some taonga, particularly carvings. The majority of early carving is of wāhine, yet all previous books about carving are written by men and focus on carvings of men. Brown and Ellis commented on the influence Christian values was likely to have on this shift, as well as the lack of exposure on takatāpui, and the more experimental aspects of sexuality in the carvings. The authors hope their findings can serve as a baseline for further research on such subjects.

Upon the publishing of the book, Brown couldn’t open the book for three days, as she was simply too overwhelmed. This seems completely understandable, as to see so many taonga embedded in those pages, and the work of her late colleague and friend Jonathan, would be enough to overcome anyone. This is not to mention the sheer amount of time poured into the project - Brown's child had only ever seen “Mum working on that book”. After so many years of study in architecture where no one would acknowledge that Brown wanted to design Māori buildings, contributing to a resource that explores the importance of toi Māori carries so much weight. Brown and Ellis hope to inspire other indigenous peoples across globe, as the collection of this knowledge honours ancestors, strengthens advocacy for the repatriation of taonga, and inspires generations to come.

Catherine
He Hononga | Connection, Ground floor, Tūranga

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