Te Reo o te Ao Tawhito: The Language of the Old

Te Hikutu, Te Roroa, Ngāpuhi

Dr Maureen Lander is a New Zealand artist of Māori and Pākehā descent. She is a multimedia installation artist, academic and weaver working with indigenous and introduced materials to produce works that embrace both customary and contemporary ways of making and understanding art. From 1993 - 2007 she taught Māori Material Culture courses at Auckland University during which time she regularly researched taonga in museum collections and encouraged her students to do the same. Her artworks draw inspiration from her extensive knowledge of Māori textiles held in museums, both in NZ and overseas.

In 2002, she graduated with a PhD of Fine Arts and in 2019 received the Creative New Zealand Te Tohu Toi Ururangi award in recognition of academic excellence. Since retiring from teaching in 2007 Maureen has mentored other artists and weavers, including the Mataaho Collective. As a mentor to Te Rā Ringa Raupā she has guided them since 2009 on their poignant journey to study Te Rā and bring home long lost matauranga on how to make a traditional sail. In 2020 Maureen collaborated with the Mataaho Collective to make the installation Atapo which went on to win The Walters Art Prize in 2021.  In 2023, Lander received The New Zealand Art Foundations Art Laurette award and was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Māori art in 2020.

<p><em>Ngāti Maniapoto, Tainui (including Ngāti Rārua), Ngāti Tūwharetoa</em></p> <p>Kahutoi is a New Zealand Māori teacher, curator, weaver and textile artist. She has worked as a senior lecturer at the University of Otago and was a member of the Taumata Māreikura (expert weavers&rsquo; group) on Te Awe Phase 2 at Tāmaki Paenga Hira. In 2020 she was appointed Associate Curator, Māori at the Auckland Museum and in 2021 promoted to the role of Curator Pou Ārahi. As Curator Pou Ārahi, Kahutoi is charged with caring for, providing access to and researching the Māori collections. Kahutoi co-curated Purangiaho: Seeing Clearly at the Auckland Art Gallery in 2001 and co-curated Te Aho Mutunga Kore which travelled to the U.S.A in 2005-2007. Her weaving practice has seen her create e nga uri whakatipu: a collection of over 30 cloaks and weaving artefacts of privately owned cloaks and artefacts of her family at the Waikato Museum in 2015- 2016.&nbsp;</p> <scribe-shadow data-crx="okfkdaglfjjjfefdcppliegebpoegaii" id="crxjs-ext" style="position: fixed; width: 0px; height: 0px; top: 0px; left: 0px; z-index: 2147483647; overflow: visible; visibility: visible;"></scribe-shadow>

Ngāti Maniapoto  

Rangituatahi Te Kanawa is a Te Papa Conservator, specialising in Māori textiles. Both her mother, Diggeress Rangituatahi Te Kanawa, and grandmother, Dame Rangimārie Hetet, were leading Māori weavers. Many Māori cloaks are made from muka (flax fibre). Muka eventually becomes brittle if exposed to light and humidity. Rangituatahi’s PhD investigated how black dyes made from iron-rich mud (paru) often contain acids that degrade textiles.   
In collaboration with scientists at Victoria University of Wellington and the British Museum, Dr Te Kanawa has developed a treatment using sodium alginate and zinc acetate. This treatment binds the fibres together and slows the deterioration caused by the dye, ensuring that precious taonga survive. Dr Te Kanawa continues to combine her chemistry research with the knowledge passed down to her from her mother and grandmother. 

Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Whāwhākia, Tainui 

Matekino Lawless ONZM QSM is a highly respected Māori master weaver (tohunga raranga whatu) whose practice has played a pivotal role in the preservation and revitalisation of traditional Māori fibre arts in Aotearoa New Zealand. With more than seventy years of experience, she has produced significant works including whāriki, kete, kākahu and tukutuku panels, now held in marae, museums and collections nationally and internationally. Lawless has been instrumental in intergenerational knowledge transmission, mentoring emerging weavers and contributing to national weaving collectives, including Te Roopu Raranga Whatu o Aotearoa and Te Kāhui Whiritoi. She has also advised museum institutions, notably through her role on Taumata Māreikura at Auckland War Memorial Museum. Her contributions have been recognised with major honours, including the Queen’s Service Medal and appointment as an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, affirming her enduring influence on Māori art and cultural heritage. 

Ngāti Kahu, Ngāti Hine, Te Whakatōhea 

Te Hemo Ata Henare is a Māori weaver, educator, and leader in the field of Māori visual arts. She began learning to weave at the age of 12, establishing a lifelong commitment to the practice and transmission of raranga and whatu. Her work is grounded in tikanga Māori and reflects a deep engagement with the cultural, genealogical, and environmental knowledge embedded within customary weaving traditions. Henare holds both a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree in Māori Visual Arts from Massey University, where she developed a strong academic and practice-based foundation in Indigenous art forms. As a teacher of weaving at NorthTec in Te Tai Tokerau (Northland), she is dedicated to nurturing emerging weavers through the integration of technical excellence, critical inquiry, and cultural integrity. Her teaching emphasises weaving as both an artistic discipline and a living cultural practice that connects learners to whakapapa, whenua, and community. In addition to her teaching practice, Henare serves as Deputy Chair of Te Roopu Raranga Whatu o Aotearoa, contributing to the advancement, protection, and revitalisation of Māori weaving at a national level. Through her combined roles as practitioner, academic, and leader, she plays a significant role in sustaining and evolving Māori textile arts for future generations.

Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Ruanui, Ngāti Pikiao   

Dr Awhina Tamarapa has worked in museums for more than 25 years, as a Collection Manager, Concept developer and Curator at Te Papa. She has curated many Māori exhibitions for Te Papa including Kahu Ora/Living Cloaks and the Ngāti Toa Rangatira iwi exhibition, Whiti Te Ra! The Story of Ngāti Toa Rangatira. Awhina has been a Teaching Fellow and course coordinator for the Museum and Heritage Studies course, VUW, now a Postdoctoral Research Fellow based at the Stout Research Centre, VUW. Her research will focus on locating, collating and sharing information on taonga puoro and karetao in museums outside of Aotearoa NZ.   
Dr Tamarapa’s publications include Te Papa Press books Icons Ngā Taonga (2003), Taiawhio: Conversations with Contemporary Māori Artists (2002), Taiawhio II: Contemporary Māori Artists; 18 New Conversations (2007), and Looking Flash: Histories of Clothing In New Zealand, which was published by Auckland University Press in 2007. Awhina edited Whatu Kākahu/Māori Cloaks (2011), a finalist in the N.Z Post Book Awards 2012 and winner of the arts category, Kupu Ora Māori Book Awards, 2012.Bryony Onciul, University of Exeter and leaders of the Kumugwe Cultural Society, BC Canada.  

Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Whawhakia, Tainui, Te Arawa, Ngāti Rangiunora 

Christina Wirihana is a highly respected senior weaver/artist, acclaimed in Aotearoa & internationally for her weaving which incorporates tradition & innovation. Christina credits her mother, Matekino Lawless (QSM) as her greatest teacher of raranga. Some of her notable works include five kete whakairo in the British Museum and harakeke panels as part of a touring exhibition called Anō te Ātaahua - Honouring the Gifts of our Elders. She also took part in delivering the installation of 49 tuktuku panels in Kāhui Raranga: The Art of Tukutuku at the entrance to the United Nations General Assembly Hall.  
In 2024, Christina Wirihana was presented with The Companion of Auckland War Memorial Museum Award for her 30-year-long career in education, culture and the arts. Christina is currently a senior lecturer at Toihoukura, the Māori visual arts school at Eastern Institute of Technology, and has previously been fibre tutor at Waiariki Polytechnic in Rotorua.