Maungarongo (Ron) Te Kawa

Ko wai koe?
My names Ron Te Kawa, I’m named after my dad Maungarongo. I’m Ngāti Porou—from both my mum and my dad. My marae is Pokai at the end of the Waiapu river.

Where are you living/working right now?
I live in a small town called Woodville; I grew up here and moved back here 15 years ago after spending my whole life away (I left when I was 15) but I spend most of my time on the road. Since Covid I’ve probably only been home about a month or two and during Covid the only time I was home was during lockdown.

What do you do and why do you do it?
I’m a storyteller first; I like funny stories and I like to use what I’ve got around me to tell those stories. Just like an old school hunter and collector, I just look around at the right times and the right places to find fabric…I look at the fabric and think ‘whats the biggest fuck off I can possibly do?’

What are you reading/listening to/watching at the moment?
I’ve just re-read The Luminaries, I love being in that world, that dreamy space. At the moment I’m watching lots of Perspective—the art channel on YouTube—its just incredible. I don’t get a lot of time to watch tv at all, but am listening to heaps of PJ Harvey and Courtney Love—I respect anyone who writes their own songs/plays their own instruments and produces it themselves. Everything that PJ seems to do at the moment is just perfect—its great to see her spiking out in her 60s, its just amazing and she’s more potent than ever!

Who is your art crush?
My first art crush was Sister Wendy A Beckett, the art historian with the big thick glasses. She had her own tv programme in the 90s. Sister Wendy taught me that all art is precious from above and is tapu. All art is tapu no matter how hideous the artist is. My second art crush would be Gauguin—he is controversial but I just love his paintings, what a beautiful record.