Shona Rapira Davies
Encyclopedia
Shona Rapira Davies is a Great Barrier Island
-based sculptor and painter of Ngati Wai
Māori descent. She first studied at the Auckland College of Education
, majoring in art, and later in Dunedin
at Otago Polytechnic
, graduating with a Diploma in Fine Arts in 1983. In 1989 she was awarded the prestigious Frances Hodgkins Fellowship
and a residency for indigenous artists at the Banff Centre of the Arts in Canada
.
She is well known for her landscape sculpture commission for Te Aro
Park (also called Pigeon Park) in central Wellington
. The ceramic tile permanent work is considered one of New Zealand's most successful public sculptures. Set in a narrow triangle of public space with adjacent busy roads and much foot traffic it is a very visible work.
She exhibits widely; both as a sculptor and as a painter. Rapira Davies is interested in the empowerment of Māori women in spite of perceived racism (in a Pākehā
culture) and sexism (within the patriarchal structure of Māori tribal organisation). She uses her art work to make declamatory statements about perceived injustices against Māori.
Her works are held at Te Papa
and Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki
Great Barrier Island
Great Barrier Island is a large island of New Zealand, situated to the north-east of central Auckland in the outer Hauraki Gulf. With an area of it is the fourth-largest island of New Zealand's main chain of islands, with its highest point, Mount Hobson, rising...
-based sculptor and painter of Ngati Wai
Ngati Wai
Ngāti Wai is a Māori iwi of the east coast of the Northland Region of New Zealand. Its historical area stretched from Cape Brett in the north to Takatu Point on Tawharanui Peninsula in the south and out to Great Barrier Island, the Poor Knights Islands and other offshore islands.Descendants of...
Māori descent. She first studied at the Auckland College of Education
Auckland College of Education
Auckland College of Education was a college of education located in Auckland, New Zealand. On 1 September 2004 it amalgamated with the University of Auckland and formed a new Faculty of Education with the university’s School of Education.-History:...
, majoring in art, and later in Dunedin
Dunedin
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...
at Otago Polytechnic
Otago Polytechnic
The Otago Polytechnic is a public New Zealand tertiary education institute, centred in Dunedin with campuses throughout the region of Otago including Cromwell, Wanaka and Queenstown....
, graduating with a Diploma in Fine Arts in 1983. In 1989 she was awarded the prestigious Frances Hodgkins Fellowship
Frances Hodgkins Fellowship
The Frances Hodgkins Fellowship, established in 1962, is one of New Zealand's premier arts residencies. The list of past fellows includes many of New Zealand's most notable artists.The position is based at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand...
and a residency for indigenous artists at the Banff Centre of the Arts in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
She is well known for her landscape sculpture commission for Te Aro
Te Aro
Te Aro is an inner-city suburb of Wellington, New Zealand, 1 km from the centre. It comprises the southern part of the central business district including the majority of the city's entertainment district and covers the mostly flat area of city between The Terrace and Cambridge Terrace at the base...
Park (also called Pigeon Park) in central Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
. The ceramic tile permanent work is considered one of New Zealand's most successful public sculptures. Set in a narrow triangle of public space with adjacent busy roads and much foot traffic it is a very visible work.
She exhibits widely; both as a sculptor and as a painter. Rapira Davies is interested in the empowerment of Māori women in spite of perceived racism (in a Pākehā
Pakeha
Pākehā is a Māori language word for New Zealanders who are "of European descent". They are mostly descended from British and to a lesser extent Irish settlers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, although some Pākehā have Dutch, Scandinavian, German, Yugoslav or other ancestry...
culture) and sexism (within the patriarchal structure of Māori tribal organisation). She uses her art work to make declamatory statements about perceived injustices against Māori.
Her works are held at Te Papa
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is the national museum and art gallery of New Zealand, located in Wellington. It is branded and commonly known as Te Papa and Our Place; "Te Papa Tongarewa" is broadly translatable as "the place of treasures of this land".The museum's principles...
and Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki