Rangi Kipa

Te Ātiawa, Taranaki, Ngāti Tama ki te Tauihu

Rangi Kipa has made significant contributions to the Māori art forms of whakairo and tā moko, and today is leading the change of local and national civic buildings to convey the history, identity and continuing presence of his iwi in respective landscapes.

After training in whakairo rakau at Whirireia in Porirua in the 1980s, Rangi identified that the visual language of Māori art was under the same threat as te reo Māori. He dedicated himself to the revival of the distinctive wood carving styles of his ancestors, which had not been practised since the early nineteenth century, reintroduced rare forms of whakairo rei (small adornments) and taonga pūoro (musical instruments) found only in museum collections, and was at the forefront of the revival of tā moko. Today, the wealth of stylish tiki, intricately carved rei niho (whale tooth pendants) and moko kauwae at marae gatherings in Taranaki, Wellington and the top of the South Island—areas where Rangi’s relatives are present—is evidence of his determined efforts.

From the mid-2000s, Rangi moved into larger-scale sculptural work that draw on Māori architectural concepts and associated art forms. After completing his first whare whakairo, Radiare in 2007, he completed pare for the Auckland Museum and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Enterprise in Wellington, and bronze sculptures for Waikato and Victoria University of Wellington campuses.

In recent years, Rangi has channelled his creativity into the co-design of large-scale public building projects, including the New Plymouth Airport, which received the Toitanga gold medal at the 2020 Best Design Awards, Heke Rua Archives New Zealand (under construction) and currently, Te Matapihi Wellington Central Library.