Photo: Susana Lei'ataua
Matariki is also a time to remember those who passed away over the past year and one of those was the artist, Fred Graham, who died last month at the age of 96.
Just a week before, he had attended the unveiling of his sculpture Te Manu Rangimaarie, at Taupiri in the Waikato and his exibition Toi Whakaata / Reflections, opened at Christchurch Art Gallery on May 31.
Matua Fred was also just days away from receiving the New Zealand Order of Merit after being named in the 2025 New Year's Honours list and he'd been chosen as one of Aotearoa's artists at this year's Venice Biennale international exhibition.
His son Brett is a prominent artist in his own right whose sculpture 'Wastelands' featured at last year's Venice Biennale spoke to us about his art, and his Dad.
