item details
NameBury my patu
ProductionDr Brett Graham; artist; 2015; Australia
Classificationlithographs, works on paper
Materialspaper, colored ink
Materials SummaryWoodblock relief, printed in black ink, from one block; etching and opening bite, printed in graphite ink, from one copper plate; screenprint, printed in white ink, from one screen on paper
Techniquesscreen printing, block printing
DimensionsApproximate: 560mm (width), 760mm (height)
Registration Number2016-0006-4
Credit lineGift of The Australian War Memorial, 2016
Overview
Brett Graham’s print reveals his Waikato iwi’s (tribe’s) resistance to World War I. It uses the words of King Tāwhiao, quoted by his granddaughter, Waikato leader Te Puea Hērangi, imploring his people not to participate.
A repeated image of a knot of Turkish barbed wire Graham encountered at the Australian War Memorial is etched into the print. Tāwhiao’s words, in English, Māori, and Ottoman Turkish, encircle the image.
Waikato and Taranaki Māori who refused to enlist were balloted for conscription. In 1918, those who did not turn up for training were imprisoned. For Graham, the barbed wire represents both the war and the internment of his tūpuna (ancestors).