Kōrero: Mana Wāhine, Mana Taonga

Mai i te tau 1984 ki 1986, ko te whakaaturanga o Te Maori tētahi pūtake i whakaohooho ai i te toi me te tikanga Māori, i whakaaturia ai ngā taonga Māori ki te ao whānui.

Heoi, he nui noa atu ngā kōrero. Hei whakamahara ki te 40 tau o te a, huia mai ki tētahi pae kōrero wāhine rangatira o te rāngai toi Maori e huritao nei ki ētahi o ngā kōrero huna o Te Maori .

Kaikōrero matua

Christina Hurihia Wirihana (Ngāti Maniapoto-Raukawa, Ngāti Whawhakia, Ngāti Pikiao)
Toi iho artist, Christina Hurihia Wirihana’s professional career has spanned over fifty years, the first Maori Weaver / Lecturer appointed in any tertiary and university institution in 1986. Christina served her time at Waiariki Community College (known as Toi Ohomai today), Rotorua, Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi, Whakatāne and EIT Toi Houkura, Gisborne.

Christina is a contemporary artist, acclaimed in Aotearoa New Zealand and Internationally for her weaving which incorporates a mixture of customary and new practices.

Christina has spearheaded many projects eg; Tangatarua Marae at Toi Ohomai, United Nations Tukutuku Installation New York: Hotunui Marae Tukutuku Conservation Project Auckland Museum: Whariki Project – Tūrungawaewae Marae: Tukutuku project -Holy Church of Sepulchre, Auckland.

Ngāhuia Te Awekōtuku (Te Arawa, Tūhoe, Ngāpuhi, Waikato)
Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku PhD, CNZ, FAWMM, MNZ, grew up in a whānau of weavers and carvers in Ohinemutu, Rotorua. An Emeritus Professor, she has worked as a curator, lecturer, researcher, and governor in the heritage and university sectors. Her books, both fiction and non fiction, include the highly acclaimed Mau Moko: The World of Māori Tattoo to be republished this year. In 2015 she curated the award-winning E Ngā Ūri Whakatupu : Weaving Legacies, which included a small but lavish catalogue. In 2022 she solo-presented and co-wrote the succesful Sky/Prime documentary series, WAHAROA : Art of the Pacific. Awekotuku recently published a political memoir Hine Toa: a story of bravery. Living in Rotorua, she serves on the paepaetapu o Ngāti Whakaue.

Awhina Tamarapa (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Ruanui)
Awhina Tamarapa, is a Post-doctoral Research Fellow (VUW), museum curator, writer, and former Curator Māori Te Papa Tongarewa and lives at Hongoeka Bay with Ngāti Toa hapū. She is a member of Haumanu Collective. Tauira toi whakairo with Hermann Salzmann, Toi Rangatira and whatu kākahu with Veranoa Hetet, Hetet School of Māori Art.

Ngāhuia Te Awekōtuku (photo by Tracey Scott), Christina Hurihia Wirihana, and Awhina Tamarapa