May 26, 2022
Nikora draws line at tahae art
A Māori entertainer’s fight against appropriation of Māori culture has been vindicated with the unmasking of a Nelson pair who stole his image for a racist flyer.
Te Hamua Nikora’s picture, along with statements from his Our culture is not your paycheck Facebook group, were used in a flyer created and anonymously distributed to Nelson businesses in November 2020 by artist Nichola Romney and her then-partner, a journalist turned wharfie Alan Clarke.
The pair were arrested after police identified their car in CCTV footage, and they pleaded guilty last month to a charge of making available false documents.
Romney has a history of defending the controversial use of Māori elements in her work by claiming freedom of artistic expression.
The former Māori Party candidate says she picked the wrong Māori.
“I don’t have the right to tell anybody what to do with anybody else’s culture, but with my culture, I own my culture. If you are from outside my culture, come and talk to me, tell me what you want to do, and ask me how you can do that appropriately and correctly. Don’t just help yourself, don’t just do what you do, don’t just do what you want to do,” Nikora says.