Tawhai Rickard & Ngaroma Riley: Ponga Rā / when will you walk with me

With Aotearoa / NZ’s 2026 General Election less than two months away, an exhibition of new whakairo (carving) by Ngaroma Riley and new paintings by Tawhai Rickard is timely.

As part of the wave of wāhine carvers who are reclaiming space in whakairo, Ngaroma Riley has created seven sculptures, each in the form of a tekoteko or carved human figure.

Tawhai Rickard’s contribution to the kaupapa is a series of fifteen carved, painted and politically charged Victorian playing cards; artworks that have become one of his signatures.

The exhibition’s title, Pōnga Rā / when will you walk with me, is a reference to a Rob Ruha song, lyrically inspired by a historical Ngāti Porou protest haka from 1888.

Ngaroma Riley’s seven carved figures are on a hīkoi (protest) and include family members, tangata whenua and tangata Tiriti.