Bringing history to life
MAHI-TOI
CULTURAL ARTS
Many Māori researchers have mahi-toi skills. Mahi-toi, arts and the production of art, is where a concept takes physical form, and is brought into the physical realm by mahi-ā-ringa. The mahi-toi practitioner is the conduit. When the practitioner is also the researcher and vice versa, these vernaculars can enrich each other, and structure the work. Setting research writing practice beside mahi-toi practice also lends theoretical and analytical frameworks that could be useful for mahi-toi practitioners in linking creative practice with academic research. (Jani Katarina & Taituha Wilson 2017).
Purakau Productions has found that following this practice has enabled them to delve deeper into the world of Te Ao Maori, gaining additional insights into mindsets of taha Maori.
GALLERY
Mahi-toi
This kakahu was inspired by colours of the Californian flag, and the physical features of the Californian landscape.
Working on 'Kariponia' a kakahu inspired by the state of California, in readiness to be gifted to the New Zealand Consulate in January 2023.
This kakahu is now alive, and ready to travel across the seas, to his new home.
These putiputi were used in a bouquet that was gifted as a koha as part of the 2020 Christchurch Memorial in Canberra in March 2020.
This bouquet was gifted as a koha in memory of those lives lost in the Christchurch shooting.
This bouquet was gifted as a koha in memory of those lives lost in the Christchurch shooting.
Combining academic research with practical learning. We visited The British Museum to examine the kakahu which Hongi Hika gifted the King when they met in 1820.
Weaving a 2:1 sized replica of Hongi Hika's kakahu, as both a learning experience, as well as a prop to use as part of our Hongi's Hikoi: A Trio of Travellers bicentennial commemorative series of events in June-July 2022.
The inside of the kakahu showing the aho poka or shaping inserts, which enable the kakahu to fit the form of the body more closely. It was said that a kakahu without aho poka is nothing but a blanket.
Weaving a korirangi named after my Great Grandfather
A korirangi is a specific type of kakahu, black with alternating solid and broken brown aho; these are representative of the patterns on the wings and tail of the Koekoea bird.
This is the first event in which Pukepuke Ahitapu was worn, at the New Zealand High Commission in May 2019.