{{Short description|Cook Islands artist and writer}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = BEM | name = Mike Tavioni | image = File:Mike Tav 22 Headshot.jpg | caption = Mike Tavioni in 2022 | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1947}} | birth_place = Rarotonga, Cook Islands | occupation = {{Flatlist| *Artist *writer }} | alma_mater = Tereora College<br>Northland College<br>Massey University<br>Auckland University of Technology }} '''Mitaera Ngatae Teatuakaro Michael Tavioni''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|BEM}} (born 1947)<ref name=CINBEM/> is a Cook Islands artist and writer. A master carver, he has been described as a ''taonga'' (treasure).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/news/article.cfm?c_id=7&objectid=11797517 |title=Pacific artist Michael Tuffery creating a memorial to Rarotonga's 'Forgotten 43' |author=Anne Gibson |publisher=New Zealand Herald |date=10 February 2017 |accessdate=5 August 2020}}</ref> His role in the pacific art community is recognised from New Zealand to Hawaii.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://islandculturearchivalsupport.wordpress.com/2019/01/07/native-of-2020-art-show-in-cook-islands/ |title="Native of 2020″ Art Show in Cook Islands |publisher=Island Time |date=7 January 2019 |accessdate=5 August 2020}}</ref>
Tavioni was born on Rarotonga. He was educated at Tereora College, then at Northland College, Kaikohe and Massey University in New Zealand, graduating with a degree in Agriculture & Horticulture.<ref name="citc1">{{cite web |url=https://cookislands.travel/our-little-stories/mike-tavioni |title=Cultural Heritage: Mike Tavioni |publisher=Cook Islands Tourism Corporation |date= |accessdate=5 August 2020}}</ref> After working as a public servant in the Agriculture Department, he became a full-time artist.<ref name="citc1"/> In 2019 he graduated with a Master of Fine Arts from Auckland University of Technology.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cookislandsnews.com/national/local/item/74371-master-artist-carves-letters-after-his-name |title=Master artist carves letters after his name |publisher=Cook Islands News |date=28 September 2019 |accessdate=5 August 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Tavioni |first=Michael |title=Tāura ki te Atua - The role of 'akairo in Cook Islands Art |date=2018 |degree=Master of Arts in Māori Development |publisher=Tuwhera Open Access, Auckland University of Technology |hdl=10292/11594 |url=https://hdl.handle.net/10292/11594}}</ref>
He has worked in a wide variety of mediums, including printing, painting, wood, stone, and bone, as well as traditional tattooing.<ref name="citc1"/> In 1975 he began printing t-shirts using wooden blocks.<ref name=pim1>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-342891167/view?sectionId=nla.obj-351908763&partId=nla.obj-342900859#page/n48/mode/1up |title=Carving a path for art |author=Angela McCarthy |work=Pacific Islands Monthly |volume=61 |issue=1 |pages=49–50 |date=1 January 1991 |accessdate=5 August 2020 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> He experimented with other mediums, but initially found it difficult to obtain tools and materials.<ref name=pim1/> In 1996 he oversaw the creation of the Punanga Nui market.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cookislandsnews.com/item/38660-tavioni-rsquo-s-punanga-nui-proposal-rejected/38660-tavioni-rsquo-s-punanga-nui-proposal-rejected |title=Tavioni's Punanga Nui proposal rejected |publisher=Cook Islands News |date=20 July 2012 |accessdate=5 August 2020}}</ref> In 2002 he published a poetry collection, ''Speak Your Truth''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cookislandsnews.com/national/culture/item/71708-eleven-artists-show-work-in-themed-event |title=Eleven artists show work in themed event |publisher=Cook Islands News |date=4 January 2019 |accessdate=5 August 2020}}</ref> His work is displayed at the Punanga Nui in Avarua and the University of the South Pacific campus.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cookislandsnews.com/national/local/item/65686-two-unveilings-make-artist-s-day-extra-special |title=Two 'unveilings' make artist's day extra-special |publisher=Cook Islands News |date=31 August 2017 |accessdate=5 August 2020}}</ref> In 2016 he was commissioned, alongside New Zealand-based artist Michel Tuffery, to create a carved wooden gateway for the RSA memorial cemetery to commemorate the centenary of Cook Islands participation in the First World War.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cookislandsnews.com/national/local/item/60667-first-step-in-creation-of-carved-memorial |title=First step in creation of carved memorial |publisher=Cook Islands News |date=14 September 2016 |accessdate=5 August 2020}}</ref>
Tavioni unsuccessfully stood as a candidate for the Unity party in the 1978 Cook Islands general election.<ref>{{cite book |chapter=The Unity Movement |author=Michael T. Tavoni |title=Cook Islands Politics: The Inside Story |location=Auckland |publisher=Polynesian Press |date=1979 |editor1-last=Davis |editor1-first=Thomas R. A. H. |editor2-last=Crocombe |editor2-first=R. G. |pages=83 |isbn=0-908597-002}}</ref> He later stood as a candidate for the Te Kura O Te ʻAu People's Movement in Avatiu–Ruatonga–Palmerston in the 2010 election.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cinews.co.ck/2010/October/Wed20/other.htm |title=Mike Tavioni surprise candidate |publisher=Cook Islands News |date=16 October 2010 |accessdate=5 August 2020 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101026023743/http://www.cinews.co.ck/2010/October/Wed20/other.htm#1010160709 |archive-date=26 October 2010}}</ref>
In 2010, Tavioni was part of the exhibition ''MANUIA'' with Kay George, Mahiriki Tangaroa, Jerome Sheddon, and Michel Tuffery, in American Indian Community House in New York. The exhibition was curated by Ben Bergman and was opened by former New Zealand Prime Minister, and former UNDP Programme Administrator Helen Clark.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-03-17 |title=Art show well received |url=http://www.ciherald.co.ck/articles/h503i.htm |access-date=2025-05-23 |website=Cook Islands Herald}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2020-08-18 |title=NY embraces Manuia exhibit |url=https://www.cookislandsnews.com/features/ny-embraces-manuia-exhibit/ |access-date=2025-05-23 |website=Cook Islands News |language=en}}</ref>
Tavioni now runs a gallery and art school in Rarotonga,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cookislandsnews.com/item/71740-big-plans-for-newly-opened-gallery/71740-big-plans-for-newly-opened-gallery |title=Big plans for newly-opened gallery |publisher=Cook Islands News |date=8 January 2019 |accessdate=5 August 2020}}</ref> where he teaches traditional ''vaka''-making.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cookislandsnews.com/national/item/72578-vaka-headed-for-california |title=Vaka headed for California |publisher=Cook Islands News |date=29 April 2019 |accessdate=5 August 2020}}</ref> In 2021 he was the subject of a short documentary film, ''Taonga: An Artists Activist''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cookislandsnews.com/national/culture/taonga-an-artists-activist/ |title=Taonga: An Artists Activist |publisher=Cook Islands News |date=20 December 2021 |access-date=21 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211220222851/https://www.cookislandsnews.com/national/culture/taonga-an-artists-activist/ |archive-date=20 December 2021}}</ref>
In the 2022 Birthday Honours he was awarded the British Empire Medal for services to the arts and to the community.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=63715 |date=2 June 2022 |page=B42 }}</ref><ref name=CINBEM>{{cite web |url=https://www.cookislandsnews.com/national/economy/four-recognised-in-queens-birthday-honours-list/ |title=Four recognised in Queen's Birthday Honours List |publisher=Cook Islands News |date=7 June 2022 |access-date=8 June 2022}}</ref>
==Images== <gallery mode=traditional> File:Stone sculpture, Rarotonga, Cook Islands.jpg|Punanga Nui sculpture, 1998 File:Cook Islands RSA Memorial Gateway.jpg|Cook Islands RSA Memorial Gateway, 2017 File:Tavioni Carving NZHC1.jpg|Wood carving for NZ High Commission, 2019 </gallery>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Travioni, Mike}} Category:Massey University alumni Category:Auckland University of Technology alumni Category:Cook Island artists Category:People from Rarotonga Category:1947 births Category:Living people Category:Woodcarvers Category:Cook Island poets