Atareta Rerekohu Black
Taonga Tuku Iho
He anga onamata hei aronga anamata. Kua roa te iwi Māori e titiro ana ki ngā rā o nehe hei tikanga ako, hei huarahi akiaki, hei taputapu whakairo i te huarahi i roto i te ao anamata. Ko te kaupapa o te kohikohinga mahi nei he tūhono i ngā āhuatanga o Te Ao Kōhatu me nga āhuatanga o Te Ao Hou, me te aro pū ki te pupuri i ngā taonga, me te whakatairanga i ngā mahi a ōku tīpuna hei tirohanga whakamua mo āku mahi auaha.
The kaupapa of this work is the combining of a customary Māori practice using traditional materials with contemporary Toi Māori. It uses traditional Māori net-making techniques, Tā Kupenga, to explore my connection as a contemporary Māori artist with the Whenua, Moana and Taiao through both Mātauranga Māori and Whakapapa.
The construction of Nets using Harakeke is unique to Māori, so the use of a traditional Māori practice within my work is an act of cultural grounding and re-affirms my place as a Māori within my environment and wider surroundings.
Drawing on Taonga Tuku Iho and using Māori materials to create taonga that are influenced by the creative practices of my tīpuna is a physical representation of their Mātauranga and our shared Whakapapa.
“Mā tēnei toi ahau e whakatūturu anō I tōku hononga ki te taiao, mā aku mahi ahau e whakawhenua ai, e whakakanohi hoki I te rahi a ōku tipuna.”
Ko aku mahi kupenga he mahi raranga Mātauranga Māori, he raranga whakapapa, he raranga kōrero tuku iho anō hoki. He mahi e āta tuitui i tōku hononga ki te Whenua, te Moana, waihoki te Taiao.
He hiahia nōku ki te ako i ngā mahi kupenga tuatahi, nā runga i te māharahara kei ngaro ēnei mahi rangatira kia waiho kia memeha noa. Me te ū pono ki te whakaara ai, ki te whakarauora i ēnei mahi tawhito ka rua. Ā, mā aku mahi auaha e tōmene, e kawe hoki i taku kaupapa rangahau. Nō reira ko tāku, he ako i ngā tikanga me ngā āhuatanga hoahoa tawhito o te mahi Tā Kupenga hei whakaaweawe i aku mahi toi auaha mō te tau nei.
