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Printed on Hahnemühle Fine Art Cotton Rag 270gsm. Limited edition of 50 prints, signed by River Jayden. All prints come with a signed certificate of authenticity. Printed by award winning fine art specialist Oliver Zavala.

The Extension of Whakapapa

Whakapapa is the fundamental lineage that binds Māori to our ancestral, spiritual and environmental beliefs. We interweave whakapapa through many aspects, whānau (family), tūpuna (ancestors), kaitiaki (guardians), whenua (land) and moana (sea). 

Māori identity ignites from the separation of Ranginui (Sky Father) and Papatūānuku (Mother Earth), who are the celestial beings that deliver our creation of whakapapa.

Whakapapa is endless as it connects us to both past and present, it’s circular and orbits through our ancestral lineage. This composition focuses heavily on circular motifs where there is no beginning and no end. These circular forms connect back to Rangi and Papa, to indicate the importance of our spiritual and ancestral narrative. 

The background symbolises the power of weaving, in which we not only weave people together but our entire culture is woven through many aspects like spirituality, Toi (art), orator narratives and lineage to name a few. Everything in Te Aō Māori (The Māori World) is woven together, we are connected to every life force and every narrative. There is no way to articulate this connection, it’s a spiritual communication and DNA that can only be felt.

Central to the composition is geometry that represents how whakapapa makes its own journey through people. It’s the cultural definition of how whakapapa continues to pass through lineage of those who have passed on and those who are being birthed into this world.

The relationships between all facets of life and our ancestral connection, is not only vitally important, but it’s the cultural affinity to all that is connected to us as Māori.