Toia mai te waka
$410.00
Original Oil Painting - $9,000 |
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| Size: | 550mm high x 1500mm wide |
| Medium: | Oil on canvas |
| Date: | 2011 |
Limited Edition Print - $410To order a print scroll downSelect Limited Edition Print Click Add to Cart |
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“Toia Mai Te Waka” means “pull up, the canoe” and is part of an ancient canoe-hauling chant. Now it is most often chanted as a 'haka pöwhiri' to symbolically pull the 'canoe' of the visitors safely onto the marae.
This painting is a symbol of the arrival of humans to Aotearoa. Two huia birds, a now-extinct native species, are watching the unfamiliar vessel as they perch on a branch next to a native kaka beak flower.
Sofia was inspired by the legend of Kupe, the great Polynesian navigator. Kupe is said to have journeyed from Hawaiiki, the mythical ancestral homeland of the Maori, to become the first person to discover Aotearoa. Matahorua was the name of his great ocean going vessel and it is pictured in this painting with an intricately carved bow piece, resting upon the shores of Aotearoa after its immense journey.
Sofia Minson Oil Paintings | New Zealand Artwork