Neke Moa: Bio

Neke Moa

Te Whare a Papaīra, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Ahuriri, Kai Tahu, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Tūwharetoa

Moa’s practice seeks to promote hauora (wellbeing) by deepening connections between tāngata, tohunga, and atua. Using materials from the taiao (environment), and drawing on customary and contemporary processes, she works to make mātauranga and pūrākau newly accessible.  

Her work explores our connections within the spaces of the seen and unseen, the place where wairua resides and creativity is sourced.

She has exhibited throughout the Moana Oceania region and further afield. In 2023, she was awarded a prestigious Herbert Hofmann Prize at Munich Jewellery Week and was a McCahon House artist-in-residence. Works by Moa are held in the collections of important institutions, including Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, the Dowse Art Museum, and the Musuem of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. She is based in Ōtaki Beach, where many of her rauemi (materials)are gathered.

Moa taught shell craft in Fiji and Tonga from 2016 until 2020 and continues to teach and learn as part of her art practice.