Robert Hans George Jahnke (born 1951) is a New Zealand artist and educator, well-known for his graphic and sculptural artwork. He is a professor at Massey University, founding Toioho ki ÃÂpiti in 1991, the MÃÂori visual arts degree programme in New Zealand.
Jahnke was born in 1951 in the Gisborne region and grew up in Waipiro Bay. His heritage is MÃÂori, Samoan and PÃÂkehàand he affiliates with the iwi Ngati Porou through three hapà «: NgÃÂi Taharora, Te WhÃÂnau a Iritekura, and Te WhÃÂnau a Rakairoa. He has German and Irish ancestry on his PÃÂkehàside. He was educated at Hato Paora College.
At Ardmore Teachers' College in Papakura in 1970, Jahnke was formally taught painting, ceramics and art history and realised he wanted a career in the arts. However, he did not complete his teachers' college study. After that he worked in a furniture factory and in the evenings went to AIT to study life-drawing and design.
Jahnke studied industrial design at Elam in Auckland starting in 1972, and went on to complete two master's degrees: a Master of Fine Arts in graphic design from Elam; and a Master of Fine Arts in experimental animation from the California Institute of the Arts. He has a Doctor of Philosophy (MÃÂori Studies) from Massey University, supervised by Professor Mason Durie and awarded in 2006. The title of his doctoral thesis is He tataitanga ahua toi: the house that Riwai built, a continuum of MÃÂori art.
In 1991 under Professor Mason Durie's direction, Jahnke started Toioho ki ÃÂpiti, School of MÃÂori Art at Massey University in Palmerston North. This arts programme offered the first bachelor of MÃÂori visual arts in New Zealand. Jahnke was one of the initial tutors along Kura Te Waru Rewiri and Shane Cotton. In developing the programme Jahnke describes changing the canons of "Euro-centric art education" for one that privileged a mÃÂtauranga MÃÂori conceptual foundation. MÃÂori Arts is within the School of MÃÂori Studies alongside Te Reo MÃÂori (Mäori Language), Taonga Tuku Iho (Heritage Aotearoa) and Kaupapa MÃÂori (Policy and Development); because of this programme design arts students get cultural experience in a marae context as part of the programme.
On his role of an educator of MÃÂori artists he says: "For me personally this commitment is a cultural obligation." Postgraduate qualifications started at Toioho ki ÃÂpiti in 1999 and since then the over 80 postgraduate graduates have had a big influence on contemporary MÃÂori art in New Zealand. Jahnke is a Professor of Maori Visual Arts and PhD supervisor at Toioho ki ÃÂpiti. Jahnke's artwork is usually political commenting on past, present and future colonisation and the impact of Christianity on MÃÂori culture. The form of his artwork is varied but often sculpture. Recent work uses neon, mirrors and steel. Public artwork created includes the window design at the contemporary marae Rongomaraeroa in the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, wall reliefs at the Wellington High Court and Giant Spinning Top (2003) in Wellington, and Nga Takerenui a Tamaki / Twin Hulls (2006) at the University of Auckland Tamaki Campus.
Jahnke's artwork is held in the collections of The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and the Auckland City Art Gallery.
Jahnke is involved with Matakura MÃÂori Art Education Trust, a collective of "MÃÂori art educationalists, writers, critics, historians and curators".
Jahnke is a trustee of the MÃÂori arts trademark charitable trust Toi Iho, and was part of launching the Toi Iho trademark in 2002, which aims to highlight authentic MÃÂori art and artists.
In the 2017 New Year Honours, Jahnke was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to MÃÂori art and education. In 2018 and 2019 Massey University awarded him a research medal. He won the paramount award at the 2019 Wallace Art Awards. In 2020 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society Te ApÃÂrangi and he was awarded a Te Waka Toi Award for "outstanding contribution to ngÃÂ toi MÃÂori". In 2023, Jahnke received an Arts Foundation of New Zealand Laureate Award.
Jahnke's wife is Professor Huia Tomlins-Jahnke.