Te Whānau ā Apanui

Paratene Matchitt was a leading figure in the development of the Contemporary Māori Art movement. Trained in the progressive Māori art adviser programme of the 1950s, Matchitt became part of a national network of Māori artists who sought to revive the radical creativity of Māori artists of the past. Matchitt sought inspiration from the history, attitudes and iconography of the nineteenth-century Ngā Poropiti (Prophetic) movements focussing specifically on the teachings of Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Tūruki.

Matchitt’s stylistic development was informed by Western modern art and customary Māori art practices and he was known for unique combinations of minimalist figurative forms and geometric designs.

His large-scale wood and metal sculptures and paintings are found around the country, from marae to civic spaces and government agency foyers, and is widely appreciated for his abundant creativity and influential leadership, including the establishment and Chairmanship of the Māori Artists and Writers Society (later known as Ngā Puna Waihanga), which operated from 1973 – 1995.