Korihi Te Manu

Original painting SOLD, oil on canvas, 840 x 1580mm, 2011

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Print sizes and editions (limited to 275)

• Regular museum archival paper print - 292 x 550mm

Your unique limited edition fine art print

1. Sofia Minson creates your exclusive signed print
2. We ship for $25 in NZ and from $50 internationally
3. Your artwork arrives rolled, ready to be framed - do you need help? Request framing guidance

The story of Korihi Te Manu

"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), Kōtuku (white heron), huia (extinct early 20th century) and albatross.

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Sofia Minson Paintings | New Zealand Artwork