Robyn Kahukiwa (born 1938) is an Australian-born New Zealand artist, award-winning children's book author, and illustrator. Kahukiwa has created a significant collection of paintings, books, prints, drawings, and sculptures.[2]
Kahukiwa was born in Sydney, in 1938. She trained as a commercial artist and later moved to New Zealand at the age of nineteen.[3] Kahukiwa's early artworks were inspired by discovering her Māori heritage.[4][5]
From 1972 to 1980, Kahukiwa was a regular exhibitor at the Academy in Wellington.
In the 1980s, Kahukiwa gained prominence in New Zealand after her exhibition Wāhine Toa (strong women), which toured the country.[6] This exhibition drew on Māori myth and symbolism. One of the pieces, Hinetītama, is in the permanent collection at Te Manawa.[7]
Kahukiwa's work often deals with themes of colonialism and the dispossession of indigenous people, motherhood and blood-ties, social custom and mythology.[8] In a 2004 article, Kahukiwa implements "political activism in subject matter and method into powerful images that assert Māori identity and tradition."[9]
She is a "staunch supporter of Māori rights and the power and prestige of Māori women."[10]