NGV Limited Edition - Stefan Wirihana Mau, Poutama

Colour screenprint and debossing
Approximately A2 in size

For Melbourne Now, Mau’s new print continues his engagement with mau rākau, the Māori weaponry practice that gave Mau an entry point for learning about Māori knowledge, customs, practices and beliefs. The abstract and gestural image is grounded in the symbolism of poutama, a stepped pattern which in traditional tukutuku panels and woven mats signifies genealogies and levels of learning, and in Māori mythology represents the god Tāne-o-te-wānanga’s ascending journey to higher knowledge. For Mau, this correlates with mau rākau grading levels, whose embodied movement and language have been central to his cultural connection.

‘The horizontal plateau represent[s] periods of reflection and time spent developing new knowledge,’ he explains, ‘while the vertical represents a progression to greater understanding’. This also reflects Mau’s learning through the artistic process, where he experimented with layering and weaving, in collaboration with local studio Negative Press.

Stefan Wirihana Mau Poutama 2022; colour screenprint and debossing. Commissioned by the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne 2022. Purchased, Victorian Foundation for Living Australian Artists, 2023
© Stefan Wirihana Mau.

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