Te Kuia me te Pūngāwerewere nā Patricia Grace i tuhituhi; nā Robyn Kahukiwa kā whakaahua; nā Syd Melbourne rāua ko Keri Kaa i whakamāori. Auckland, N.Z.: Penguin, 1981.
Robyn Kahukiwa (Ngāti Porou, Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, Ngāti Hau, Ngāti Konohi, b.1938) was born in Sydney, then relocated to Aotearoa in 1959. From a young age, Kahukiwa was always drawing and painting. Upon moving to Aotearoa, she began to learn about her heritage and says, “I began painting soon after and my inspiration for this has always been Māori. As I learn more about my Māori side (Ngāti Porou) my work becomes stronger and in the children’s books I concentrate on illustrating stories that are Māori.”
The Kuia and the Spider is Robyn Kahukiwa’s first picture book, published in 1981 and her first collaboration with Patricia Grace, Te Tuna Wātakirihi me ngā Tamariki o te Tiriti o Toa was published in 1984. These stories encapsulate a depth of wairua from both a visual and storytelling perspective, bridging te ao Māori with contemporary life. Robyn Kahukiwa has been integral in paving the way for a contemporary Māori art movement that combines mātauraka, tino rakatirataka, socio-economic issues and post-colonial politics. She is well known for her depictions of mana wāhine and incorporates kaupapa Māori into her ways of working and making, beginning with karakia before painting.
Patricia Grace (b.1937) has written numerous award-winning novels, short stories and children’s picture books and is one of Aotearoa’s most well-known and celebrated Māori authors. Having only ever had the opportunity to read about faraway people and places when she was growing up, Grace is a passionate advocate for fair representation of Māori in texts.
“I write books for children because it is an exciting and enjoyable thing to do. I get ideas from people around me - what they are like, what they say and do. I write from my own background experience. I wrote The Kuia and the spider in half an hour, after thinking about it for a day…”
Te Kuia me te Pūngāwerewere nā Patricia Grace i tuhituhi; nā Robyn Kahukiwa kā whakaahua; nā Syd Melbourne rāua ko Keri Kaa i whakamāori. Auckland, N.Z.: Penguin, 1981.
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