Renowed Tā Moko Practitioner, Writer, Contemporary Māori Artist
“Moko to me is a process of connecting each of us through its practice, to the ancient wisdom of our ancestors, so that their mana and mauri may become centred within ourselves” - Julie Paama-Pengelly
With a Masters in Māori Visual Arts and a Masters in Development Studies, Julie Paama-Pengelly has taught ngā Toi Māori at various tertiary institutions, and served as Head of Maori Visual Culture at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiarangi. Julie also wrote 'Maori Art and Design' (2010) which won a Māori Book Award. She serves as a consultant on building Art Collections, Māori Arts Education and Development for MOE and the tertiary sector, while also operating her own business Art + Body Creative Studio in Mount Maunganui.
Julie describes her core practice and values: ‘deriving from my passion to create a space for Maori to recover a positive identity and future development through our visual art traditions’.
From an excerpt of UNO Magazine, Bay of Plenty 2013:
"Julie began her artistic journey with Ta Moko in the early 1990s at which time she also began studies in Maori Visual Arts and Third World Development. In 2004, Julie was commissioned - along with New Zealand’s foremost Ta moko artists - to perform her practice in full view of the public at Te Papa National Museum. Over the exhibition period, Julie tattooed full peha or puhoro on two women (covering the lower back, hips and thighs down to the knee)."
"It is work on which Julie is consistently challenged, through a belief that females traditionally never wore the peha, it being considered the mark of a warrior. Julie asserts there is documentary evidence women did indeed wear peha, and there must be little doubt that many modern-day women deserve the title of warrior!"
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