Erena Koopu

Te Ara i Whiti Artist

MAHI TOI

Te Aho Tāngaengae-Te Tini o Rua

There are two parts of this work, the first is inspired by ‘te aho’ the umbilical cord, a symbol of whakapapa and hononga between a mother and child. In this narrative, this is Papatuānuku and Rūaumoko. The second is based on ‘Te Tini o Rua’, beings who gently pull Rua (Rūaumoko) back into the kōpū of his mother after exploring the outer world. They represent the unseen energies that call us home, back to our roots, our stories, and our place in the world. Quietly immersive, the glowing aho acts as a lifeline pulling us between presence and absence, belonging and loss. Aho Tāngaengae invites viewers to consider their own connections to ancestry, land, and the threads that shape identity.

Erena Koopu is a multidisciplinary artist and educator of Te Whānau-a-Apanui and Ngāti Awa descent, deeply committed to sustaining Māori culture through the arts. Her practice is rooted in whakapapa and te reo Māori with a passion for helping others uncover their own creative expression. Raised within the Māori language movement, Koopu embodies the strength of cultural revival—where identity, language, and art intersect.
Her own creative work spans painting and Māori performing arts, thriving in spaces of risk, emotion, and transformation. She believes magic happens at the intersection of fear and excitement — and that this is where the most powerful creative truths live. Koopu’s art speaks boldly from her experience: a life where appearance, language, and cultural inheritance find balance through visual language, performance, and connection to whenua.