Brothers in art

By Amokura Panoho, January 17, 2008 @ 9:43 am

From left: Phillip, Richard and Jody Murray; Tihei Mauri Ora

Take three brothers: one clued-up in IT, one with a business background, and another who creates 21st-century Maori art. It took afamily loss to bring them together but now they’re reinventing thebusiness of indigenous art. Amokura Panoho meets the Murray men of Imagenation

There is a belief that the worst situation can bring out the best in people. For Richard, Phillip and Jody Murray, that event was the death of their father, Rima Raroa Murray, a man who instilled in his children a sense of self-worth and pride in their culture and ancestry.

Rima Raroa’s boys followed their own paths, developed their own skills and chased their own dreams. But when they had to deal with their father’s death it proved to be a catalyst that brought them together in creating their own unique business.

It took 12 months of grieving and talking to finally make the commitment and form Imagenation, a business that creates new-media Maori artworks on a huge scale and, rather than flicking them off, leases them to corporates and public spaces.

It’s something their father would have understood. “Dad was an entrepreneur and had his own businesses,” says Richard Murray. “We realised that we took it all for granted because he had retired by the time he was 50. We worked out that we each had quite distinctive and different strengths and were working in completely different fields.”

Tihei Mauri Ora takes shape in layers on Richard Murray’s computer

The eldest of the three, Richard is a self-taught graphic artist and prefers to remain in Kaitaia, where Ahipara beach provides more than enough inspiration for his artwork. He’s kept his old job working with at-risk youth but it’s his high-tech art that Imagenation is built around.

He’s grounded in traditional art, however. “The biggest influence for me early on was an art teacher who acknowledged my ability and encouraged me to explore different techniques,” he says. “I was fortunate because I met up with people who had wonderful ideas and before I knew it I was a traditional carving tutor on a Maori Access scheme, teaching trainees who were older than me.”

After winning a national ceramic competition for a carved piece, Richard gained the confidence to start pushing boundaries. “That’s when I moved to doing graphic work on computers, creating designs for t-shirts. I purchased my own software and it took nearly 18 months to be confident. But by then I was always getting asked for designs.”

His brothers, meanwhile, were pursuing their own careers in Auckland. Phillip Murray had returned from a lengthy OE and taken a senior position with Rentokil, where he learned about business systems and the leasing model. Younger brother Jody had set up Interlogica, an IT solutions vendor. The pieces that would build Imagenation were coming together.

“No other culture can interpret Maori culture the way Maori do. That is how we retain our authenticity. It is a form of protection that needs to be kept”

“We realised Richard’s designs could be transferred onto any medium, and that opened up to us the concept of leasing out the images,” says Phillip. Imagenation prints can measure several metres in length.

Like Richard, Jody Murray is self-taught, applying his artistic skills to business software and websites. “I was a fitness instructor for years and wanted to do something different. It took a while to hone my skills but through my own business I am able to keep my finger on the pulse of what is an ever-changing landscape.

“The important thing about the website is that potential and existing clients can get a sense of the scale of the image Richard has created. Then all they have to decide on is what medium they want the image transferred to.”

And Phillip put together the business operations and started looking for customers. “I took a traditional sales approach to the business. Through cold-calling and initially targeting the hospitality industry, we focused on leasing out the images, a concept I had learned from Rentokil.” Leasing has its advantages for both parties, he says—the minimum period is for 12 months and clients are invoiced quarterly.

“Very soon, however, it was the corporate sector that saw the value in what we were offering. Large Maori artworks generally have to be linked to their environment. For many of our clients adaptability and change are important, and the ability to have a significant Maori artwork provided by us with limited overheads seemed a smarter way to make an investment.”

Corporate clients, though, have corporate concerns. “A lot of businesses have a perception, right or wrong, about Maori art. We attempt to accommodate that by providing imagery that is culturally appealing across the board. It’s a fine balance.”

Three details from Papakura, part of the ArtReo series

And a challenge for Richard is dealing with artists who consider his work is not ‘real’ art because it is computer-generated. “I have been frowned upon by traditionalists, especially formally-trained artists. Some say that it is just a copy-and-paste form of artwork. But I consider the computer as my canvas and the mouse as my brush. I draw inspiration from artists like Lisa Reihana, who merges digital photography into her works on canvas. That is innovation, and Maori culture is evolving—it doesn’t stand still.”

Keeping control over the use of their images and concepts is also a challenge, as the brothers realised recently after dealing with a multinational corporation. For Phillip the lesson made him painfully aware of how Maori imagery and concepts have become a target of commercial interests, in New Zealand and abroad.

“It’s a hard pill to swallow when you naively present your concepts to a large corporation on the back of their guarantee they are not working with any other designers. Then when they go cold on you, you realise your vulnerability. It was hard to see our concept regurgitated in a significant marketing campaign.”

Jody Murray questions why Maori imagery is downplayed in New Zealand when it is clearly the backbone of many international marketing campaigns for New Zealand products. “I struggle with the lack of recognition in New Zealand of the premium value that Maori imagery has in the international marketplace. It isn’t until it is fed back to us by the likes of Jean Paul Gaultier at fashion shows in Milan that a stir is created.

Te Taonga on display at the NZ Police Northern Communication Centre

“Then when we want to get engaged in presenting our version of our culture, all sorts of restraints are placed on us. We’ll continually strive to find that balance and create the mechanism that will protect our cultural IP, especially when the digital medium creates greater opportunity for exploitation.”

Still, says Richard, global interest is good news for Maori. “The reality is that unless you know the meanings behind the imagery, the uniqueness behind the art, how and why we create these translations of our culture, then it is hard to replicate. In the global marketplace a lot of imagery has already been done before so they are looking for something unique.

“No other culture can interpret Maori culture the way [Maori] do. That is how we retain our authenticity. It is a form of protection that needs to be kept.”

And two new business opportunities are keeping the Murray brothers optimistic. A collaboration with Tommy Wilson, the creator of the Kapai the Kiwi book series, has seen the brothers venture into new territory. Together they have formed the company ArtReo to create a series of paintings that visually translate New Zealand place names, a new approach to traditional carvings that recognises the connection of an ancestor to a particular place.

Says Wilson: “As Maori we often use images on clothing to celebrate who we are and where we come from. Our art concept is evolving as another avenue to represent this. Take the word ‘Remuera’ for example—most people associate the word with ‘rich’, because rich is how we perceive the people who call Remuera their home.

“When I asked a mate of mine who lives among the rich list of Ridings Road what ‘Remuera’ means, he had no idea, just like most Kiwis who live in a Maori-named suburb. The look on his face when I told him it means ‘burned bum’ was priceless … but not as priceless as the piece of art created by Richard.

“For the record, Remuera was originally known as Remuwera, ‘wera’ the Maori word meaning hot or burned, and the area represents a famous Maori chieftainess who was burned alive for her beliefs.”

ArtReo was launched in Tauranga in July 2007 during Maori language week, and Wilson and the Murray brothers believe it signifies a country where it is now cool to korero Maori. To give the venture more momentum, they approached a number of schools through COMET (City of Manukau Education Trust) to engage students in providing the background research on place names in Auckland.

Whakapapa, from concept to finished art

“We worked with Alfriston College year ten students to provide us with the information and create an interpretation of the meaning, and it gave them the opportunity to see how a small business operates,” says Richard Murray. As Idealog went to press ArtReo was planning an auction for December 2007 with the help of Manukau celebrities, with part of the proceeds going to the school. The founders hope to find other ways to support new Kiwi talent, especially up-and-coming digital artists.

And a much bigger project that could turn Imagenation into a global business is in the wings. Phillip, who wants to explore more international opportunities, is excited by the potential and cautious at the same time.

“We are working with an international company developing a series of illustrations that could eventually be animated. If this relationship works it will help us trademark one commercial product that has worldwide appeal. It’s a window of opportunity and could potentially change the whole direction of our business.”

We’ll wish them luck. But if that doesn’t happen, there are plenty of other opportunities for three brothers with skill and imagination. Phillip Murray puts Imagenation into perspective with their simple business philosophy.

“The biggest benefit from being a Maori business is that we have utilised this understanding of who we are and taken a renegade approach to make sure our uniqueness allows us to shine.”

Rima Raroa Murray would no doubt approve.

Amokura Panoho (Te Atiawa, Taranaki, Ngati Kahungungu and Ngai Tahu) is a Taranaki-based writer and consultant. Her last feature was ‘Is Maori Culture Too Precious to Brand?’ in Idealog #9