In this episode, I visit Neke Moa at her home and studio in Ōtaki on the Kāpiti Coast

By the way, this episode is part of a series I’m delivering this season for the McCahon House Parehuia Residency, celebrating their 20th Anniversary, where I’m volunteering the services of The Good Oil to highlight the wonderful and important work they do, and some of their very impressive alumni, which includes Neke.

Neke is Te Whare Papaīra, Ngāti Kahungunu, Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Tūwharetoa.

She has several qualifications in arts and teaching, including Diploma of Design and Art, from Te Wānanga-ō-Rau-kawa.

Her work is held in numerous public and private collections, including Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, the Dowse Art Museum, and the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. She is also the recipient of several art prizes and residencies, including the McCahon House Parehuia residency.

Neke is represented by Season Gallery in Tamaki Makaurau.

There are images of the works that we talk about on The Good Oil Neke Moa Instagram Post for your reference. I’ve also included a list of some of the te reo Māori that is in the episode, just in case you’re not familiar with all those words.

You’ll hear Neke explain that her practice is always a collaborative one, even when she is in the studio by herself, how and why her work is sometimes respected more overseas than it is in Aotearoa, the role of activism in the practice and works, how the historical pakeha definition of art and value systems devalued Maori practices and therefore excluded the preservation of some taonga, and how toi Māori is in a new evolutionary phase.