INTERVIEW Tessa Apa
PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY David K Shields
FASHION EDITOR Claudia Li
INSTALLATION PHOTOGRAPHY courtesy of artist
As one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s leading artists Lisa Reihana (Ngā Puhi, Ngāti Hine, Ngāi Tūteauru, Ngāi Tūpotu) is renowned for her video installations and multi-media art that examines traditional indigenous concepts, historical narratives and identity from an urban Māori perspective. Internationally acclaimed for her powerful large-scale institutional works, Reihana’s recent commission for The National Gallery of Singapore is no less impressive. Titled GLISTEN, the dazzling three-sided installation identifies a parallel between Southeast Asian and Māori weaving traditions.
CLAUDIA LI french quilted tulle empress coat. TAYLOR Diverge dress from The Shelter.
From Aotearoa to the world stage, Reihana’s career has unfolded with both precision and scale. Her landmark presentation at the Venice Biennale – in Pursuit of Venus [infected] – remains a defining moment; an expansive, cinematic reworking of colonial encounter that positioned her among the most critical contemporary voices interrogating empire and image-making. This, alongside major exhibitions across institutions in Europe, Asia, and the Pacific, has cemented her reputation as an artist whose work operates at the intersection of scholarship, storytelling, and technological innovation.
CLAUDIA LI Cowl Neck Blouse in Italian Wool Suiting. Y-3 Refined Wool Skirt from The Shelter
To speak of Lisa Reihana is to enter a practice that has, for decades, moved with quiet authority across time, place, and perception – reframing the narratives that have long defined Indigenous presence within institutional spaces. Her work doesn’t simply revisit history, but unsettles it, reanimates it, and asks us to consider who has been granted the power to tell it.
CLAUDIA LI Cowl Neck Blouse in Italian Wool Suiting.
Lisa’s contributions have been recognised through numerous honours, including her appointment as a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, acknowledging not only her artistic excellence but her enduring impact on cultural discourse both locally and internationally.
RICK OWENS DRKSHDW jacket. CLAUDIA LI pleated skirt.
Lisa’s own accessories throughout.
To move deeper into this body of work, follow the below link to an expanded written piece by Tessa Apa. This offers a considered and intimate reading of Reihana’s practice, tracing the conceptual, cultural, and emotional threads that bind her works across time. Accompanied by a wider selection of images documenting her recent exhibitions, the full feature invites a slower engagement: one that allows the scale, detail, and resonance of her work to fully unfold.
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