A powerful and diverse array of portraits—spanning mediums from stop-motion puppetry and video to oil on glass, ceramics with pāua inlay, and digital animation—has been shortlisted for the 2025 Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award.
Finalist works also include handcrafted earth pigments on canvas and intricate textile pieces incorporating linen, cotton, and glass beads.
Established in 2020, the biennial award is a partnership between the New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata and the late Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII.
It aims to encourage a new generation of emerging Māori artists to create portraits honouring their tūpuna (ancestors).
The 2025 award is hosted by the Gallery in his honour, with the blessing of Kuini Nga wai hono i te pō Pootatau Te Wherowhero VIII.
This year’s exhibition features 41 finalists, each in the running for a $20,000 First Prize. The Runner-Up and People’s Choice Award will each receive $2,500.
Open to Māori artists aged 35 and under, entries had to be created within the past two years or specifically for the competition, and depict a tūpuna with whom the artist shares whakapapa.
AI-generated artworks were not permitted.
Entries came from across Aotearoa and Australia, with finalists representing regions from Northland to Otago. Among them is Karaitiana Akroyd, a returning finalist from 2023, and four artists who featured in the 2021 line-up: Emiko Sheehan, Shannon Te Rangihaeata Clamp, Tina Walker-Ferguson, and Kataraina Poi. The remaining 36 artists are first-time finalists.
Notably, 70% of this year’s finalists identify as female, 25% as male, and 5% as gender diverse.
