Weaving dreams

Some say that the art of weaving is a metaphor for understanding our place in the universe. That through the physical process we gain an understanding of our planet and how we, the occupants, are woven into its cycle. How apt then that the phrase ‘Whiria te tāngata!’ (Weave the people together!’) – is the Kaupapa for the 8th Hawke’s Bay Arts Festival.

Whiria! Plait!

Whiria! is a call to action and is a directive in Te Reo Māori to go and plait, a metaphorical call to intertwine relationships, stories, and genealogy through the art of weaving.

In a search to extend the previous Hawke’s Bay Arts Festival guiding whakatauki (proverb) Tūtira Mai Ngā Iwi, Pitsch Leiser, festival director, was gifted the phrase Whiria Te Tāngata, by esteemed local weavers Karmen Thomson and Wi Pohatu. In discussion, this whakatauki was shortened to the more directive Whiria! as a call to all of us to weave ourselves back together after two difficult years of pandemic and uncertainty.

Pitsch is recognised for his own uncrushable spirit. Particularly when it comes to staging performance art despite the odds. The fact that the festival has survived the confronting ravages of Covid over the past two years is proof. And this year he was determined to find a message which would convey that through our community strength the creativity of Hawke’s Bay remains unconquered. 

The objective was to find a way to make this year’s festival significant – one that truly conveyed what we as a region are about, particularly in the art world. It was suggested that as Hawke’s Bay is historically significant when it comes to Māori weaving (raranga), wouldn’t it be wonderful to celebrate the traditions of the area through weaving. 

Thus weaving became the theme of the entire festival of 65 shows over the two weeks between October 14-30 and marked by a full day’s celebration of raranga – the Māori art of weaving – the traditional art which evokes tribal memories of Polynesian ancestors and the treasured culture they brought with them so many centuries ago. How appropriate, when our artistic world has become somewhat frayed by the wearying trials we have had to face, to inspire us to bring those strands together by weaving artists, creators, performers, and showmanship back together. 

Pitsch met with Karmen Thomson and Marama Ngawhika and together they discussed the possibilities and how far they could take it, the focus being to launch the 8th Arts Festival.

Workshops

Experts from Gisborne, Muriwai, Rotorua, Matakana Island and within Kahungunu will offer the opportunity to participate in creative workshops. “Workshops which through their very existence provide a message that this is a celebration of bringing everyone together to weave our differences into a stronger unity through an art form which is so strongly linked to Hawke’s Bay,” he explains.

Fibre plays a predominant role in traditional weaving; during the day workshops given by both artists and kaiako (teachers) will demonstrate with traditional methods and processes as well as contemporary materials and techniques. Tukutuku (lattice work) tāniko (finger weaving, muka (harakeke fibre) extraction, whatu (cloak making techniques) and raranga (harakeke weaving) will be given by such recognised artists as Wi Pohatu, Karmen Thomson, Erin Rauna, Fiona Jones, Tracey Roberts, Martha Hampton and others. John Turi-Tiakitai will share some history and timeline of weaving. 

Karmen Thomson is the weaving tutor at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa. She has been weaving for over 20 years – a journey which began under the tutelage of renowned master weaver Matekino Lawless in Rotoiti. 

Of Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngāti Tūwharetoa descent she comes from a family of artists – strongly influenced and inspired by her brothers George Nuku and Darryl Thomson. “When growing up, I didn’t see any weavers, there were no doubt a few dotted around, but sadly, it wasn’t something you saw much of in our community.” 

Around the mid-90s Karmen started feeling the pull toward Raranga. “There was nothing here in Hawke’s Bay at the time, so I moved to Rotorua to learn. Learning to weave opened my eyes to how talented and amazing my culture is; it helped me to grow in more ways than I ever expected.” Coming home and passing on what she had learned was a natural progression.

“When Pitsch first approached me about the festival and having a Māori weaving focus, I was rapt. I felt it was exactly what we need, as it will not only benefit the wider community but also the art of weaving itself, within Kahungunu. I fully support positive promotion for our cultural arts and sharing the beauty of them with others.” 

Karmen explains, “Whiria! is an acknowledgment to our ancestors, also to the practitioners and weavers who share their skills, keeping our arts alive and thriving.”

“I want to acknowledge Pitsch and Charles [Ropitini] for having the foresight to lead this kaupapa through a weaving lens. Quite often weaving gets overlooked for the other art forms, i.e. carving, painting etc. It’s time for that to change and move forward together as one, as it used to be. Whiria! is going to be a day of celebration.”

Wi Pohatu, who is currently principal at Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Ara Hou, Napier, also facilitates a group of kairaranga (weavers). With regular wānanga at Te Muriwai Marae, Gisborne, he too is acknowledged as an experienced weaver. 

Wi is of Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa and Ngāi Tāmanuhiri descent.

He grew up in Muriwai, south of Gisborne and was taught the traditional methods of weaving by his aunt and grandmother. “They brought me up and I was surrounded by all the fundamentals of what weaving meant – at a noticeably early age they taught me to cut flax – whenever my aunt wanted to weave, I was sent off to get the fibre. It was part of my upbringing through primary school and high school. There were a number of other nannies who also had a hand in teaching me to weave, and I quickly learnt to be very diplomatic,” he comments dryly. He went on to training college – already an accomplished weaver – he has been teaching weaving in all of its different forms since starting his teaching career but more recently with monthly weaving wānanga with the Te Muriwai Weavers, Muriwai, Gisborne. 

“Teaching weaving has been a huge part of my life. I didn’t realise how fortunate I was until I had to research hat making towards my degree. My research took me all over thinking that I would find similarities elsewhere, but no. I came to realise that a particular hat starter practiced by my whānau was peculiar to the whānau. My teachers were quite protective of their weaving heritage, but no-one ever said, ‘do not share’.

“Today weaving is offered and practiced, but like many traditional art forms it is becoming more contemporary and decorative rather than functional. Sometimes that potato kit is produced but in a very contemporary way. The traditional production has been lost to us, so we now produce a different product in a different way and sometimes with a different label. The weavers who are brave enough to think freely are turning it into a quite different art – one based more on creativity than function. A lot however is based on new skills developed over time and with experimentation.” 

But of course, the whole art is based on plaiting which is why Whiria! is such a beautiful theme for this festival – it is a plaiting of the people using performance art as the ultimate braid.”

Revealing just how far weaving has progressed since it first originated will be the renowned fashion designers Shona Tawhiao and Taongahuia Maxwell. Shona’s work is known nationally and internationally in Milan and New York Fashion Weeks and Taongahuia has showcased at Miromoda and NZ Fashion Week. 

Both embrace their Māori heritage in their creations which have a woven focus – much of it having progressed beyond recognition in the development. Traditional and contemporary cloaks and kākahu will highlight their brilliance in taking the basic plait and turning it into something breathtakingly beautiful. 

The Whiria! fashion show will be co-ordinated by Nephi Tupaea who was born and bred in Kahungunu. 

She is of Ngāti Koata, Ngāti Tīpa, Ngāti Koroki-Kahukura and Ngāti Kahungunu descent.

A longstanding member of the arts collective Pacific Sisters and currently working towards her degree with Te Wānanga o Aotearoa in painting. Nephi returned to New Zealand from Australia in 2018 to take care of her mother.

Her multi-faceted arts background made Nephi a natural choice to co-ordinate the fashion side of Whiria! “Karmen asked me to be a part of the workshop and we just took it from there.” 

Festival strands

The different strands which have been woven together to create the 2022 Arts Festival are typified by Whiria!” Pitsch explains. “On one level we have more conventional work such as the homage to Dame Malvina Major in Sharing the Dream or David Coddington directing Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Tell Me On a Sunday. On another we have the strongly contemporary which has grown from the traditional such as Ko Au by the Project Team or The Most Naked featuring Hannah Tasker-Poland and Lucien Johnson. There’s the partnership with Jamie Macphail and his Small Hall Sessions featuring Jackie Clarke and Stephen Small for five great cabaret shows in five rural halls. And there is always the temptation to push the barrier, but this time around with the strands being plaited into one big festival we embraced every aspect.” 

There are a lot of free shows like Whiria! and Nuit Blanche, and $20 rush tickets providing access to most shows as a last minute daily offer available through subscribing on the HBAF website. This could be well worth it to catch music icons Don McGlashan, Teremoana Rapley or 2022 Taite Music Prize winner Anthonie Tonnon, or no other than our best comedienne Urzila Carlson. 

And let us not forget the last piece of the festival puzzle which provides a perfect backdrop for all these powerhouse performances. 

The opening of the Municipal Precinct in Hastings gives multiple meeting places and venues for such productions as Whiria! which is being held in the magnificently restored Ballroom with its many memories of community gatherings. An opportunity for everyone to experience what has been such a huge undertaking by the Hastings District Council which had the foresight to see what developing this beautiful communal space could do to bring not only the Hastings and Hawke’s Bay communities together but those of the entire country.”

When architects Matthews and Matthews were given the task of developing this treasured communal area their first instinct was to call in consultant Dena Aroha Bach as they knew it was vital to have someone involved who was strongly immersed in the Māori community. 

Their vision of threading and weaving relates to both the people and the place – connecting the tributaries and the braids beneath the buildings which were the fabric of their foundations, to the plaiting of our multiple communities.

The 8th Hawke’s Bay Arts Festival well-illustrates their vision.