Paratene Temokopuorongo Matchitt was born in Tokomaru Bay, north of Tūranga-nui-a-Kiwa Gisborne. He attended St Peter’s Māori College (now Hato Petera College) in Northcote, Tāmaki Makaurau, and Ardmore Teachers’ Training College. He moved to Ōtepoti in 1957 to study with Gordon Tovey, who encouraged him to develop his own art. Ngāti Porou master carver Pineāmine Taiapa trained him in whakairo. He first exhibited in 1962 with the Waikato Society of Arts and quickly became a force within the ‘Māori modernist movement’. He played a pivotal role in the development of contemporary Māori art as a leader in arts education and as president of Ngā Puna Waihanga from 1982 to 1999.
