Korihi Te Manu
$550.00
Original Oil Painting - $12,500 |
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| Size: | 840mm high x 1580mm wide |
| Medium: | Oil on canvas |
| Date: | 2011 |
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“Korihi Te Manu” means “The Birds Sing”. This can be said as part of a tauparapara (awakening), which draws attention to the speaker on a marae.
The tauparapara goes as follows:
Korihi te manu
Takiri mai te ata
Ka ao, ka ao, ka awatea
Tehei mauriora
The birds sing
The morning has broken
It is dawn, it is light, it is broad daylight
Behold, there is life
In this work Sofia sees the land and sky, Papatuanuku (earth mother) and Ranginui (sky father), as having opened up to let the light of dawn into this world.
From the sensuous curved river stones of Papatuanuku grows an intricately branching tree, which describes the whakapapa (genealogy) of all living things. Bringing the first moments of life and song to this waking land are New Zealand birds including kereru (wood pigeon), pouakai eagles (a large native species with a wingspan of 3 metres that went extinct c.1400 A.D.), tui, piwakawaka (fantail), kotuku (white heron), huia (extinct early 20th century) and albatross.