Lisa Reihana

Biography

Lisa Reihana (Ngā Puhi, Ngāti Hine, Ngāi Tu) is known for a practice that interrogates gender, power and representation. Working with video, photography, installation, performance, design, costume and sculptural forms, she draws on sources from mythological realms, historical evidence and imagined narratives to challenge fiction and assumed truths.

Reihana’s work has been exhibited at Asia Pacific Triennial, Brisbane (1996, 2003, 2018); Venice Biennale (2017); Hubei Art Museum, Wuhan, China (2017); Honolulu Biennale (2017); Kochi Muziris Biennial (2016); Pingyao Photography Biennale, China (2016); Museum van Loon, Amsterdam (2013); Samstag Museum, Adelaide (2012); Havana Biennale (2009); Brooklyn Museum, New York (2007); Liverpool Biennial (2004); Asia Society Museum, New York (2004) and Biennale of Sydney (2000), among others.

Her work is held in private and public collections at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, New Zealand; Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane; Staatliche Museum, Berlin; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; British Museum, London; and Brooklyn Museum, New York.

Reihana has been recognised as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (2018) and named a Distinguished Alumni, Auckland University (2017). She has also received numerous awards, including the Te Tohu Toi Ke,Te Waka Toi Maori Arts Innovation Award from Creative New Zealand (2015); Best Experimental Film for Tai Whetuki - House of Death at imagineNATIVE Film Festival, Toronto (2015) and an Arts Laureate Award from the NZ Arts Foundation (2014).

Reihana holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Elam School of Fine Arts, Auckland (1987) and a Master of Design from the School of Visual Art and Design, Unitec, Auckland. She was born in 1964 in Auckland, where she continues to live and work.

SAF participation:
Sharjah Biennial 14