Ngāti Porou
Riki Manuel is a cherished member of the whakairo rakau and tā moko communities and has made an invaluable contribution to the visibility and continuity of Māori art in Te Waipounamu.
A graduate of the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute under the tutelage of Hone Taiapa, Riki was well known through his workshop, gallery and tā moko studio, Te Toi Mana Māori in the Christchurch Arts Centre (1985-2011), spent many years teaching Māori art in the wider region and has practised and promoted Māori carving and moko throughout the world including Singapore (1986), San Diego/USA (1992), Belgium (1996), The Netherlands (1998) and New Caledonia (1990 and 2000).
Significantly Riki has completed many important commissions conveying the history of Ngāi Tahu including the pou whenua, ‘He poupou tohu aki-a o Ngāi Tahu (1994) for Victoria Square on the banks of the Avon River, an important site of early exchange between Ngāi Tahu and European settlers, the wharenui Wheke (2010) at Rāpaki (Te Wheke) marae at Te Rāpaki-o-Te-Rakiwhakaputa with Fayne Robinson, ‘Kākano Puananī’ and ‘Tūhura’ (2018), which convey Ngāi Tahu origin stories at Tūranga Christchurch Library and more recently, three pou whenua for Kura Tawhiti/Castle Hill, a site of immense cultural and historical significance.
Riki is a current member of Te Uhi ā Mataora, the national network of ringa tā supported by Toi Māori Aotearoa, and was honoured by his peers as a founding figure in the revitalisation of tā moko at the 2024 Moko Ora Symposium. Riki also completed a waharoa and tekoteko to welcome the return of Te Rā, the only known ancestral Māori sail in existence back to Aotearoa at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna Waiwhetū in 2023, and in acknowledgement of the pūrākau of Niwareka and Mataora, practised moko with fellow Te Uhi ā Mataora members during the opening weekend of events.