'Te Hononga Hōhonu' = Interwoven connections : Toioho ki Apiti Masters in Māori Visual Arts exhibition report, 150.826: Ngā Miro Whakaaturanga thesis Pt2, Massey University, Palmerston North Campus

Abstract

"Ko te ātārangi o te tangata ka makahia e te roa o tana tīpuna." A person’s shadow is cast by the length of his ancestry. This whakataukī I learnt at Rangahaua in 2000 and that was when I began to research my whakapapa. I became aware of my past, and where I am in the present. Looking toward the future heightened my awareness of a generational history of my wider whānau connections. Whakapapa and investigating my whakapapa opened strengths, and weaknesses of my genetic make-up of who and where I am from as a whānau, hapū and iwi. (Bourke, Chapter 32-7). Dr Leland Ruwhiu, (2000), said, "The experience of coming, throwing off the shackles of ignorance, even cultural amnesia, require personal soul searching. It is for this reason the concept of whakapapa (genealogy) must be a priority for one to address" These words encouraged me to seek out answers to who I am and where I come from? This report navigates the history of traditional Māori and European weaving techniques that I will utilise in hopes of acknowledging my whakapapa of who I am. I am enthused by kairaranga (weavers) in my whanau and the notion that raranga has its own whakapapa and matauranga (knowledge). In addition, it can be used as a symbolic representation to exemplify whakapapa connections within the resource of the pā harakeke (flax bush, represents whanau) whanau relationships for the purpose of maintaining our ties. For the purpose of this report I have referenced other artists and examined their traditional processes. They have inspired me to work with other textiles and utilise other cultural ideologies as for my own self-awareness of identity and a sense of belonging. The artwork conveys a contemporary representation of whakapapa and exhibits an extension of last year’s exhibition, "Nga hau e Wha, Ka Putikitia, 2018". It contextualises the exhibition Te Hononga Hohonu, 2019, a collaboration of cultural diversity