March 03, 2013
Funeral for Ralph Hotere
Ralph Hotere has finally come home to Zion.
Hundreds of friends and family and admirers passed through Mitimiti over the weekend to mourn the artist who spent so much of his life in Otago, far to the south of the remote Hokianga settlement where he was born.
Hone Papita Hotere died a week ago in Dunedin at the age of 81.
After a Catholic funeral service at Mātihetihe Marae starting at 10am this morning, he will be buried in the urupa Hione or Zion on the sandy hillside overlooking the ocean.
Friend Chris McBride, the director of the McCahon House Trust, says Hotere shrugged off the Māori artist label to be considered one of the country’s most important artists, alongside the likes of Colin McCahon and Rita Angus.
”I think it is important not to portray yourself as an artist and that carries alot more mana to allow your own personality to come our through your art. I think Ralph did that very seriously,” he says.
Chris McBride says Ralph Hotere refused to explain his work, allowing people to find their own interpretations.
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