Toioho ki Apiti - Bachelor of Maori Visual Arts

It was so special to see so many Ihu Pūta and Toioho ki Āpiti whanau whanui return to the whare, share stories, and celebrate Toioho together.

If you missed it, the exhibition remains on display for the next two months. Head up to Te Pūtahi-a-Toi, grab a map, and follow the trail through the building to experience more than 60 artworks spanning three decades of Toioho.

Heaps more photos to come.

📷 Image credit: Ephraim Russell, The Whare Wānanga That Bob Built, 2026, mixed media.

Ihu P**a 30 – B. Mari Ropata-Te Hei

Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Raukawa, Te Ātiawa ki Whakarongotai, Ngāti Toa Rangatira
BMVA Graduate 2013 MMVA 2022

B. Mari Ropata-Te Hei’s artwork explores kaupapa Māori through whakapapa, mātauranga Māori, tikanga Māori, and the intergenerational transmission of knowledge. Central to her practice is Te Taiao, reflecting our responsibilities as kaitiaki to nurture and protect the living relationships between whenua, wai, ngahere, moana, while leaving a legacy for future generations of tamariki mokopuna.

Alongside her creative and research practice, Mari currently teaches within the Kaupapa Māori immersion Teacher Education programmes Te Aho Tātairangi and Te Aho Paerewa at Te Pūtahi a Toi, Massey University. She also completed a Master of Māori Visual Arts at Toioho ki Āpiti in 2022. Her current installation work explores kaupapa Māori values and the reclamation of mātauranga Māori through contemporary materials. Through her teaching, she is cognisant of the importance of teaching her student teachers the importance of visual language and recognising it as the primary communicative form for Māori, where meaning through imagery and artistic expression for narrating whakapapa, histories, and mātauranga preceded that of written language.

“Toioho ki Āpiti has taught me that creative practice is inseparable from my whakapapa, my community and responsibility within my whānau, hapū and iwi. What has stayed with me most is the importance of grounding art in kaupapa Māori and allowing my stories, our stories, histories, and tikanga to be expressed in new and dynamic ways.”

“Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua.”

Exhibition opens tonight!

This exhibition celebrates three decades of Māori visual arts education. Featuring 60+ artworks.

Nau mai, haere mai. Join us for an evening of art, kōrero, and celebration.

Opening: Tonight, 4.30pm
Venue: Te Pūtahi-a-Toi

Ihu P**a 28 – Tapirioterangi Pirikahu
He Rua au, He Rauru au, He Awa au
BMVA Graduate 2017

Tapirioterangi Pirikahu is a multidisciplinary artist whose primary focus is painting. Her creative practice is grounded in pūrākau and whakapapa, drawing from the stories and memories passed down through her nana and koko. For Tapirioterangi, art is a process of shapeshifting between realms, carrying and transmitting knowledge for future generations while strengthening connection and empowerment within her people.

Following the completion of her Bachelor of Māori Visual Arts, Tapirioterangi dedicated herself to researching sites of cultural significance and taonga within Ngā Rauru. This work involved direct engagement with the landscape, including ascending pā sites to better understand their histories and contexts. As part of this process, she utilised drone technology to document and analyse these sites through aerial imagery. Alongside her painting practice, she has also taught tukutuku through Ngā Rauru Manu wānanga and mana whenua eco-sanctuary wānanga.

Tapirioterangi has contributed to the Māori Art Market, the Tūheitia Portraiture Awards, and a range of exhibitions and collaborative projects. She also worked as a coordinator for Whanganui Windows, delivering the street art initiative alongside a collective of wāhine Māori artists. She is currently focused on her mokopuna, Tangahoe, including supporting him at kōhanga reo, while continuing to create part-time within her practice
“What remained with me was the importance of applying diligence across every aspect of one’s practice: talent alone is insufficient; it is equally important to be able to articulate one’s mahi. I encourage tauira to make the most of their Kaiako; they are prolific artists, and you are surrounded by excellence”

Current Toioho ki Āpiti students exhibition - Toitū Toioho opened tonight at Square Edge Arts Centre.

One of the many moving parts of our 30-year celebrations, this exhibition brings together current student work across a range of practices and perspectives.

The exhibition is up for the next month, so head down and check it out.

Ihu P**a 27 – Mahaki Akauola
Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, Ngāti Porou, Tonga
BMVA Graduate 2016

Mahaki Akauola is an artist whose practice explores stories and narratives connected to kaupapa both past and present. His work is grounded in storytelling and the ways stories carry knowledge, memory, and meaning across time. Through his art, Mahaki is interested in how visual language can communicate and hold kōrero in meaningful ways.

His current practice focuses on contemporary design and whakairo, while continuing to reflect the whakaaro and narratives that shape his communities and experiences.

Mahaki is currently the Senior Leader of Learning, senior pastoral at Te Paepae o Aotea. His mahi is centred on giving back to community and supporting rangatahi through education and the arts. Alongside teaching art, he is focused on helping create opportunities for tauira and encouraging them to strive toward their goals and futures.

“I arrived wanting to make art. I left knowing why I make it. Toioho ki Āpiti taught me how to think more in depth, feel deeper, and trust that not knowing can be the start of making something.”

We’re proud to celebrate Mahaki as part of our celebrations.

Ihu P**a 26 – Justin-Leigh Manuel
Te Iwi Mōrehu, Ngāti Apa, Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō, Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi, Ngāti Whātua ki Ōrākei, Ngāti Porou
BMVA Graduate 2015

Justin-Leigh Manuel is an artist and kaiako whose practice is grounded in mātauranga Māori, visual storytelling, and education. He completed both a Bachelor of Māori Visual Arts and a Postgraduate Diploma in Māori Visual Arts at Toioho ki Āpiti. Working across teaching and creative practice, he uses toi to strengthen identity, connection, and expression. His practice draws from traditional Māori art forms such as kōwhaiwhai, whakairo, and tāniko, which he integrates into painting, graphic design, and teaching. Through these visual languages, he explores pattern, narrative, symbolism, and whakapapa, adapting customary forms into contemporary design spaces while maintaining their cultural integrity.

The kaupapa of Justin-Leigh’s work centres on whakapapa, identity, and the continuation of Māori visual language within contemporary spaces. Using kōwhaiwhai, whakairo, and tāniko as foundations within his design practice, he explores how these forms carry stories, histories, and ways of knowing. His work reflects an ongoing interest in bridging customary and contemporary practice, honouring traditional knowledge while finding new ways for it to live and evolve through design.

Justin-Leigh is currently working as a Kaiako in Toi, Te Ao Haka and te reo Māori. He is currently focused on teaching visual arts while weaving te reo Māori and tikanga into creative learning spaces. A significant part of his role involves supporting rangatahi to develop their own creative voice and recognise the value of their stories and identity through toi. Alongside teaching, he continues to strengthen his own painting and graphic design practice, creating works that apply Māori design principles and traditional visual systems within contemporary formats.

“My time at Toioho ki Āpiti strengthened my understanding of mātauranga Māori as the foundation of creative practice. It taught me to value the depth within our traditional art forms and how they can continue to evolve.”

A throwback to Eve Robin deep in the painting studio last year

So many of the photos we take up here are those in-between moments. Students testing ideas, working through process, covered in paint, and fully immersed in making.