Description

The artwork depicts the sacking of Rangiaowhia 1864. A food producing village known as the economic hub of the Waikato, Rangiaowhia was the largest settlement of Māori at that time. However, due to the encroaching British forces into the Waikato, the village had sent all its warriors to defend Paterangi Pā leaving behind only women, children, elderly and the disabled.

Hamilton-born artist Richard Lewer works and lives in Melbourne, Australia. Working across a range of medium, his art explores the intimate, though at times uncomfortable, terrain of his own personal history. This painting was gifted to Council.