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Published 10 May 2018Poet and writer Bill Manhire one of five new Arts Icons
Fellow Bill Manhire has received an Icon Award - Whakamana Hiranga, the Arts Foundation of New Zealand's highest honour.
Other artists to receive an Icon Award last night were were Billy Apple, Fred Graham, Albert Wendt and Dame Gillian Karawe Whitehead.
The recipients received their awards from the Governor General Dame Patsy Reddy at a ceremony at Government House in Wellington. The Prime Minister and Minister of the Arts Culture and Heritage Jacinda Ardern attended in the dinner.
The artists were awarded for their significant contributions to the arts and to the lives of New Zealanders.
Arts Foundation Chair, Garth Gallaway, said, “There are some artists who have a profound impact on the nation. The Icon Awards celebrates the achievements of those artists so that all New Zealanders can acknowledge our living greats and to learn more about their work and contributions”.
The 2018 recipients were selected by Arts Foundation Trustees and Governors.
The recipients join a living circle of twenty artists celebrated as Icons and receive a medallion and pin designed by stone sculptor, John Edgar. The artist has the pin forever, while the medallion is presented to a successor at a future ceremony.