From the "Tauhuna 3.0" collection, "Tāne Pekapeka 3.0" is of one of the worlds most popular heroes, Batman, recreated through a Māori lens. In this work, "Tāne Pekapeka 3.0" is 'carved' with toi Māori, commonly seen within moko, whakairo and kowhaiwhai.
The back story of Batman sees Bruce Wayne protecting Gotham City from super villains... such as The Joker, Riddler, Penguin Catwoman and others.
What's drawn me, and surely others to Batman. is that he has no super powers. Rather, he is a human that has dedicated his life to fighting crime since childhood after the murder of his parents. Compared to other franchises, it's a dark and gritty franchise rooted in the psychological - Batman struggles with his identity and his past.
This notion of identity and "hiding behind the mask" bears similar feelings of many urbanized Māori of today. Māori that have been dislocated from their iwi (tribe) and their culture, feelings of "am I Māori enough" and shame in not knowing te reo Māori (Māori language) has left many Māori feeling isolated and dislocated in a "no mans land", a feeling of not belonging. And yet, we all still have that strength to put on our mask every day and continue....
This NFT provides the first purchaser of each of the NFT editions (1-10) with a physical fine art print of Tāne Pekapeka 3.0 - part of a limited edition run of 50 physical signed prints. The physical print details are:
“Tāne Pekapeka 3.0”
Archival ink on 310gsm cotton rag
Limited edition of 50 and 3 artist proofs
610x610mm paper size
Signed, titled and numbered
Comes unframed
On purchasing the NFT make contact through one of my online channels to arrange contact/shipping details.
