Rakai Karaitiana was born and raised in Hastings and spent entire summers roaming the sand dunes and beaches of his hau kainga, Waimarama. As children his father taught he and his siblings how to surf, and the young family would load into their Ford Falcon for road trips up the east coast - visiting whanau and exploring isolated surf breaks. These coastal communities exposed Rakai to the painted Ringatu Marae of the east coast, which has become a big part of what inspires Rakai’s work. Rakai is a multi-disciplinary graphic artist at his practice Studio Pacifico.

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