Overview

This publication accompanies the exhibition Ka Awatea, A New Dawn, which surveys the work of Senior Māori artist Emily Karaka, a descendant of the many iwi [tribes] of Tāmaki Makaurau, the Auckland Isthmus, Waikato-Tainui, Ngāti Kahu and Ngāti Hine. Largely self-taught, Karaka is an abstract expressionist, a colourist and an occasional assemblage artist whose personal, passionate work is anchored in Māori rights related to the Treaty of Waitangi, the founding document of Aotearoa New Zealand. Recognised for their expressionistic intensity, saturated colour palette and often-ambitious scale, her canvasses carry messages of Māori sovereignty, social justice, care for the environment and love for her family. The exhibition was co-curated with assistance from Amal Alkhaja, Assistant Curator, and Abdulla Aljanahi, Curatorial Assistant at Sharjah Art Foundation.