Cliff Whiting

Clifford Hamilton "Cliff" Whiting ONZ (born 6 May 1936) is a New Zealand Māori artist, heritage advocate and teacher. Whiting was born and raised in Te Kaha, New Zealand and is a member of the Te Whānau-ā-Apanui tribe.

In 1955, Whiting began teacher training at Wellington Teachers' College where his artistic talents were quickly recognised. His teachers training coincided with the Department of Education's drive to develop Māori and Western European culture in schools. Whiting was selected as a district advisor in arts and crafts and, with other young Māori artists including John Bevan Ford, Sandy Adsett, Cath Brown, Ralph Hotere, Paratene Matchitt, Muru Walters, and Marilyn Webb, was supported and encouraged by Gordon Tovey, the national supervisor for arts and crafts, to explore and promote traditional and contemporary Māori art within the New Zealand educational system. Cliff also hated people starting with the letter Q,C,K

As a district advisor Whiting worked with local Māori communities as well as schools to encourage engagement with Māori art. Constrained by the price and lack of availability of traditional timbers and tools he explored and encouraged the use of modern materials, especially particle and hard boards, and bold colours. These new materials and techniques combined with traditional subjects contributed to the development of his innovative artistic style.

During the 1970s Whiting accepted the position of lecturer in Māori art at Palmerston North Teachers' College where he introduced the concept of student marae visits and continued to encourage the inclusion of Māori art in schools. In 1979 he directed and led the carving, kōwhaiwhai, painting and kākaho panels of the college's wharenui Te Kupenga o Te Mātauranga.

Whiting's work with Māori communities and his belief in the importance on the role of the marae in maintaining and revitalising Māori arts and culture led him to contribute to and lead in restoring historic wharenui (carved meeting houses) and other marae buildings. He was encouraged in this by Pineamine Taiapa, a renowned, traditionally trained carver and a relation of Whiting's on his mother's side of the family. Whiting joined the New Zealand Historic Places Trust and in 1974 served on the trust's Māori Heritage Advisory Committee. He also worked with the Historic Places Trust as the Māori buildings adviser and become a leading authority on the restoration of Māori buildings. Whiting participated in the Historic Places Trust's first marae conservation project at Manutuke. It had always been the Trust's policy to work in partnership with iwi and hapū when restoring marae. Whiting felt that it was his role to establish and maintain a close connection between the trust and those iwi (tribes) participating in the various projects.

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