John Bevan Ford

John Bevan Ford’s stylised kāhu (swamp harrier), poised midflight above a tauihu rendered as an elaborate birdlike manaia, combines symbols of keen-eyed focus and confident voyaging. Its flowing, ornamented lines suggest movement and connection, central to Ford’s lifetime exploration of Māori artistic identity as a communal legacy.

Born in Ōtautahi Christchurch in 1930, and later based in the Waikato and Manawatū, he created this work in 1997, the year before studying taoka Māori at the British Museum. It may be seen as an act of wayfinding and cultural return. tauihu prow of a waka manaia stylised representation of a spiritual guardian or figure, often with the head of a bird and human body, used in carving taoka treasures, things of cultural value

auihu ~ prow of a waka

manaia ~ stylised representation of a spiritual guardian or figure, often with the head of a bird and human body, used in carving

taoka ~ treasures, things of cultural value

(Bird Land: Te Kāhui Manu 15 August 2026 – 8 February 2027)