Let’s NOT Celebrate Cook: Robyn Kahukiwa’s Confrontational 2020 Exhibition

This article examines the provocative exhibition Let’s NOT Celebrate Cook, a selection of paintings by Māori artist Robyn Kahukiwa (Ngāti Porou, Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, Ngāti Hau, Ngāti Konohi, Whānau-a-Ruataupare) at Mahara Gallery, Waikanae, near Wellington, in 2020.[i] Employing a decolonial lens, it explores the extent to which Kahukiwa’s artistic intervention disrupts the hegemony of Western historical discourse and reclaims an Indigenous narrative. It considers how, in foregrounding an Indigenous perspective, her artworks encourage candid discussion regarding the legacy and impacts of British colonisation in present-day Aotearoa New Zealand. [i] Following an eighteen-month closure for extensive redevelopment, Mahara Gallery reopened in October 2023 under the new name of Toi MAHARA.