2024 guest judges
The 2024 Ringa Toi Student Exhibition was judged by:
- Graham Hoete aka Mr G (external link) (toi Māori categories), and
- Michel Tuffery (external link) (Pasifika Category).
NZQA acknowledges all the student artists and schools that contributed works for this exhibition and extends their sincere thanks to all those who made this exhibition possible through their support.
On this page
People's Choice Awards
The People’s Choice Awards are awarded based on the number of votes an artwork receives from visitors to the exhibition.
The People’s Choice Award is sponsored by Toi Māori Aotearoa.
This year’s winners are:
First Place
Name: Taine Hinga
School: Rotorua Boys’ High School
Title of work: Ūkaipō
Second Place
Name: Streme Clarke
School: Pukekohe High School
Title of work: Aotearoa Monopoly
Third Place
Name: Benjamin Hepi Brown
School: Ōtāhuhu College
Title of work: Māmā
Toi Whakairo
Principal artform
Highly Commended
Name: Jacob Paul
Iwi: Ngāti Awa
School: Otāhuhu College
Title of artwork: Te Teko
Materials used: Mānuka, pounamu, pāua, feathers, oil, waxed cord
Artwork description
My tokotoko represents where I am from and how Te Teko was named. Iratumoana was the Ngāti Awa chief that gathered his enemies and hung them from his palisade. Ko ngā tekoteko a Iratumoana.
Commended
Name: Benjamin Hepi Brown
Iwi: Ngāpuhi
School: Otāhuhu College
Title of artwork: Māmā
Materials used: Kauri, pāua, feathers, oil
Artwork description
My whakairo is my acknowledgement to my māmā. She was a strong, dedicated mum to me and my seven siblings. She was our light, our armour that guided us and made us who we are today. You inspire me everyday māmā, Love you.
Toi Matihiko
Digital print where the reproduction processes have been manipulated by computer
Highly Commended
Name: Maddy Roberts
Iwi: Te Rarawa, Ngāti Kahu, Ngāpuhi
School: Wellington Girls' College
Title of artwork: Koro's Tiki
Materials used: Photography, adobe photoshop
Artwork description
Koro's Tiki captures the repeated image of a hei tiki symbolising the movement between past and present. A taonga, handed through generations and my lasting connection to my koro.
Commended
Name: Lucy Mahuika
Iwi: Ngāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe
School: Nayland College
Title of artwork: Whai
Materials used: iPad
Artwork description
The whai is seen as a kaitiaki, which protects the areas where shellfish are harvested. This artwork uses puhoro, koru, mangopare and manaia.
Toi Whakaahua
Photography with no digital manipulation
Highly Commended
Name: Daniel Maehe Gafa Rice
Iwi: Ngāti Uenukukōpako
School: Pukekohe High School
Title of artwork: Mai i te pō, ki te whaiao, ki te ao mārama
Materials used: Photography print
Artwork description
There is a bigger picture to be seen. There is more than meets the eye. People will make assumptions about the boy in this photo based on what they see, as well as what they cannot see. Maybe he is misunderstood, afraid. You don’t see his face because part of him is hiding. He doesn’t feel special. He only shows the world a part of himself. He wants to emerge from the darkness but needs the confidence to do so.
His story is my story … a boy afraid of not being enough in his identity as Maaori.
I want those who feel the same way, to relate to this photo - to feel understood and know they are not alone.
Commended
Name: Junior Rhind-Singh
Iwi: Tainui
School: Pukekohe High School
Title of artwork: Te Whenua
Materials used: Photograph
Artwork description
This photo is near the end of my photography exploration for the term ‘plastic Māori’. This tiki photo is about becoming one with the whenua and embracing. I have rendered the term insignificant and instead made it my strength. I have used the tiki as a stamp in my whenua to say "I am who I am, he Maaori ahau".
Toi Waituhi
Paint, ink and drawing where the brush or drawing tool is pulled across a surface.
“Tuhi” is to strike a surface. This is where the instrument is pushed in the opposite direction to how it is normally used.
Highly Commended
Name: Freedom Tawera Rankin
Iwi: Tūhoe, Whakatōhea
School: Rotorua Boys High School
Title of artwork: Kurungaituku and Hatupatu
Materials used: Plywood, acrylic, charcoal, indian ink, ink pen
Artwork description
Hatupatu faced many challenges, including years of bulling from his older brothers. It was these tough experiences that helped shape him.
He is now remembered to be a resilient, brave and a strategic thinker because, it took these valuable attributes to defeat the menacing bird woman Kurungaituku. The artwork showcases Hatupatu's heroism as he stands above Kurungaituku's head holding his patu to the sky as he celebrates his triumph. The sunset depicts the foreshadowing of Kurungaituku's slow death as she is swallowed up by the iconic Rotorua mudpools. Kia Kaha, Kia Maia, Kia Manawanui!
Commended
Name: Cleo Collins
Iwi: Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga, Te Atihaunuia a Pāpārangi
School: Marlborough Girls College
Title of artwork: Te Mana o te Rōpu
Materials used: watercolour
Artwork description
This piece represents the strength and unity of a kapa haka rōpū. I wanted to capture the intense emotions and connection Māori have when we perform together. Every person in the group is connected by the same passion for their culture, and you can see that in their faces—they’re carrying the mana of their tūpuna. I was inspired by the kapa haka performances I've grown up watching. The way they move and sing, it’s like they’re bringing different pūrākau to life.
This piece is my way of honouring our culture and showing how kapa haka is such a powerful part of our identity.
Toi Matatuhi
Printmaking where the artist draws the image, prepares the plate, scribes/scratch the image onto the surface then inks and prints the image onto specifically prepared paper.
Highly Commended
Name: Ava Rule
Iwi: Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Manawa
School: Pukekohe High School
Title of artwork: Whānau
Materials used: Lino cut print on paper
Artwork description
This artwork is special to me because it shows the connection of my whānau through lino prints of us all. I wanted to explore the relationship between my uncle, his family and his connection to me and my nana and my mother. It captures the aroha and awhi I feel through my whānau as Māori. The patterns and details highlight our culture and the pride we feel to be Māori.
Commended
Name: Lizzie Engstrom
Iwi: Ngāi Tūhoe
School: Cromwell College
Title of artwork: Tūhoe Journey
Materials used: eco print, lino cut, etching, weave collaged
Artwork description
I am on my own personal whakapapa journey and this piece represents that. I am working on finding out more about my whakapapa, whānau and their history. Because of the loss of my dad when I was nine years old, I lost the connection to my Māori side. It has made this personal journey to find connections more complicated, I have had to find out information on my whakapapa through distant relatives and internet searches. Because of this I decided to have some blank areas on my art to show that my journey isn't complete.
Toi Matarau
Shaping and fashioning usually more than one surface at a time. These surfaces are then impressed on again by joining and adding to with paint or multi-media materials.
Highly commended
Name: Streme Clarke
Iwi: Ngāti Awa
School: Pukekohe High School
Title of artwork: Aotearoa Land Monopoly
Materials used: digital printed imagery from original design, clay, acrylic, card
Artwork description
Tuurangawaewae to me is the land of Aotearoa, which is where my feet walk. I thought about the complicated history of Aotearoa's land and the Maaori who fight for getting their land back today which inspired me to make this piece.
Through this piece I want to express and talk about the government's monopoly over Aotearoa's land and the land confiscation that Maaori have unfairly faced.
When people view this work, I hope they will acknowledge that Maaori are strongly fighting against a system that was not built for them; that they are fighting for something so special and clear - our tuurangawaewae, our mana whenua.
Commended
Name: Mia Shepard
Iwi: Ngāti Kuia, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Kahu, Rangitāne ki Wairau, Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō
School: Tauranga Girls College
Title of artwork: Te Taenga o Matua Hautere ki Te Tau Ihu
Materials used: okoume plywood, acrylic, exterior paint markers, shellac
Artwork description
My pou represents my chosen pūrākau I am exploring in my Year 12 Contemporary Māori art folio this year, Te taenga o te iwi o Ngāti Kuia. Matua Hautere is a rangatira of Ngāti kuia, he led the people of Ngāti Kuia to their settled whenua.
The painted image of the land and the sea is the view of the Marlborough Sounds which is where Matua Hautere led the iwi through after sailing from Te Moana o Raukawa. Kaikaiawaro is a kaitiaki who dug out Te Hoiere (the awa of Ngāti Kuia) for Matua Hautere to follow.
This is my first year taking any type of art at school so painting has helped me to embrace learning about myself as a rangatahi Māori. Having the opportunity to design art about my own iwi and whenua inspires me to be more and more creative with my art.
This is part of a collaborative mural installation by my Level 2 Contemporary Māori Art class, where the pou will be presented as a collection representing significant narratives and pūrākau from Te Tau Ihu o Te Waka a Maui.
Toi Wharepora
Traditional and contemporary weaving forms
Highly Commended
Name: Taipua Leon Kipa
Iwi: Ngāpuhi, Tainui, Te Arawa
School: Waitakere College
Title of artwork: Kākahu Oneone
Materials used: hemp macrame cord, wool, cotton, neinei, hoheria, pīngao
Artwork description
One of my favourite places to be is in the ngahere, sitting in the bush in awe at all the different plants around me and I wonder what my tūpuna would have used each plant for. In this kākahu I have expressed my love for the forest by using four different plants in the process.
Firstly, the soft hoheria bark which some was dyed using the bark of the raurekau. Secondly, the bright golden pingao from the west coast.
Lastly, the rainproof neinei. In this contemporary kākahu I wanted to shine light on uncommon materials utilised by our ancestors to express there are alternatives to just feathers.
Commended
Name: Paige Whitlock
Iwi: Ngāti Tamaterā, Ngāti Whatua, Te uri-o-Hau, Ngāpuhi, Mahuhu-ki-te-rangi
School: Albany Senior High School
Title of artwork: Hine Toa Mahurutanga
Materials used: Harakeke, feathers, pāua, string, ikebana
Artwork description
This piece is inspired by the Māori women in my life: my mum, and my teachers Whaea Trish and Whaea Jacinta. My mum brought me to New Zealand from Australia, to connect with our whakapapa and give me an opportunity to see our family and learn about the country and culture I am from.
The next step in my weaving journey was my Māori teachers. They taught me about weaving, starting with putiputi. I found the act natural, like my hands enjoyed doing the mahi without my brain interfering. Then when my teacher challenged me to make a tapeka, I thought they looked beautiful and complex and didn't believe I could do it but with these women behind me, I persevered.
This first tapeka was my proudest piece and connected me to a new found love: creating kākahu with harakeke. The work Hine Toa Mahurutanga is the next step in this journey of connecting to te ao Māori, to Papatūānuku and to myself.
It symbolises the strength of women, who together are unbreakable like intertwined harakeke strands, and the strength in the peace of womanhood.
‘Te Māori’ 40th Anniversary Feature Category
An award for the artwork that celebrates the spiritual essence and heart of Te Māori Te Hokinga Mai – The Return Home.
Name: Taipua Leon Kipa
Iwi: Ngāpuhi, Tainui, Te Arawa
School: Waitakere College
Title of artwork: Āwhina te Ao Hou
Materials used: modeling clay, tin foil, masking tape, muka, duck feathers
Artwork description
We must reflect on the past, the people that influenced Aotearoa to create the world we live in today. Dame Whina Cooper spent her whole life fighting for Māori land rights. We can look to her for inspiration and strength to persevere in our modern day in age.
In this sculpture of Dame Whina Cooper I used techniques of whatu to create and adorn her with a miniature kākahu.
Pacific Art Excellence – Te Moana nui a Kiwa Measina Award
Highly Commended
Name: Patrick Lemeki
Iwi: Tonga
School: Rosmini College
Title of artwork: Power to the people
Materials used: acrylic
Artwork description
My work is deeply rooted in my Tongan heritage and the powerful legacy of the Polynesian Panthers.
Inspired by the techniques of artists like Mr G. (Graham Hoete) and Shepard Fairey, I envisioned this piece as a mural that could visually communicate identity and culture, forging connections between people and place. Through portraiture and mark-making, I sought to bring my vision to life in a way that reflects my experiences as a young Tongan male growing up on the North Shore of Auckland City.
The theme of social justice is an integral part to my school, and with this artwork, I wanted to express a perspective that is both intensely personal and universally relevant, addressing the challenges faced by my community.
Commended
Name: Te Tiale Tulafono
Iwi: Fakaofa, Tokelau
School: Pukekohe High School
Title of artwork: Navigator's Legacy
Materials used: photograph
Artwork description
In this compelling photograph an island boy sits confidently, wrapped in a blue lava lava that mirrors the backdrop behind him.
He holds a Vaka in his hands, its traditional craftsmanship symbolising connection to his voyaging heritage. Half of his face is covered by the Vaka. Only one side of his expression is visible through the boat's frame, creating a powerful interplay between concealment and revelation.
The seamless blue background reinforces his integration into his cultural setting, making him a living embodiment of island spirit and tradition.
This image beautifully captures both personal introspection and cultural pride, linking the boy's identity to the rich legacy of his people.
Feedback
Power compensation, beautifully put together, a lot of layers that spoke visually it did make me stand there for a while, which is objective, successive completion.
