Wahine Whaikairo O Hokianga Exhibition

Our project is to establish a shared functional stone grinding wheel that will support a collective of Māori wahine artists working in stone carving.

Stone carving is an important part of Māori artistic practice, used to create taonga such as pounamu pendants, toki, traditional inspired forms, and contemporary sculptural pieces. However, access to proper grinding equipment is a major barrier for emerging and community-based artists. This project will fund the purchase and installation of a professional-grade grinding wheel setup that will allow our collective to safely shape and finish stone works for exhibition.

The outcome will be a collective exhibition of carved stone taonga created by Māori women from the Hokianga, celebrating skill development, cultural expression, and the continuation of traditional art forms in a contemporary setting. The Exhibition will be held at The Ngāpuhi Creatives space in Rawene and we are excited to show our mahi and hope to inspire future wahine to become carvers.

This kaupapa is led by a small collective of Seven Māori creatives and contributors to the Ngāpuhi Creatives arts space.

Ngāpuhi Creatives is a Toi Maori shop based in the township of Rawene in the Hokianga.

This will be the venue we will hold our exhibition. Many of our group already have art works for sale in this store and are apart of the running it as well.

So the support for this project has their full backing.

Our group includes artists, designers, and cultural practitioners who work across Māori Design, Healing, carving, and traditional art forms. Together we support each other’s creative development and provide a platform for Toi Maori within our community.

We are:

• Samantha Broad (Iwi :Ngāti Ranginui)
  • Hapu: Pirirakau 
• Tulsa Karanga (Iwi: Ngāpuhi) 
  • Hapu: Te Hikutu Ngāti Kohatutaka 
• Dianne Te Hira (Iwi : Te Rarawa) 
  • Hapu: Ko Whānau Moko
• Puti Neho (Iwi: Ngāpuhi) 
  • Hapu: Ngātimahia
• Bells (Iwi: Ngāpuhi)
  • Hapu: Ngāti Hau Ngāti Kaharau
• Natasha Heitia (Iwi: Waikato)
  • Hapu: Tainui
• Kody Loretz (Iwi: Ngāpuhi Ngāti whatua) 
  • Hapu: Ngāti Tupoto 
• Chantal De Sousa (Iwi : Ngāpuhi) 
  • Hapu: Te Hikutu, Ngāti Korokoro, Te Pouka, Ngāti Wharara.

The total project cost is $10,000.

Through the match funding initiative, we will raise $5,000, which will be matched by the funding body. 

The core of this project is to purchase and install a functional stone grinding wheel and carving setup.

This equipment will allow the collective to:

• Shape and finish stone carving safely
• Develop carving techniques
• Produce exhibition-quality stone works
• Provide shared access to specialist equipment

The equipment will be housed within our creative workspace where artists can work collaboratively and safely.

The final outcome will be a public exhibition of carved stone works created by the participating Māori wahine artists.

This exhibition will celebrate the creative journey of the artists and demonstrate how shared resources can enable cultural production.

We would appreciate your donation to helping us achieve our goal of fundraising $5000.

Let's gooooo Whanau and friends.

Ako Hokianga is a education provider who comes under HCET which is a educational trust.

They put on short courses for the community that puts people  under the tuition  of great Teachers.

After the short courses, most of us have attended all 3 we were at a loss of not having a grinder to use after our wananga, leading many to use a Dremmel to shape the stone, which can be a long painful road.

That's how we ended up here, we did a wananga through them at a campus based in Rawene with a master carver.

The only problem is the  equipment is only for the duration of the wananga.

This leaves a gap to be filled, the grinder is essential to helping us to go further with our work.

In effect Ako Hokianga was our  growing stage, our nurturing time, with their support, as well as their admiration of our independence to form a group, we can now transform ourselves into becoming successful carvers.

Ngāmihi nui to Ako Hokianga for starting us off.

Our 2nd mention of support is our friends and whanau, who care, who sometimes miss us because we are working on our carving projects but realize it's worth it because we are swimming in our element.

The last Mihi goes to the receiver of the taonga, the person who makes a connection with the kohatu and keeps it close.

Thank you

This project will have several important impacts.

Supporting Māori Wahine Artists

Access to specialist tools often limits participation in stone carving. This project will remove that barrier and allow wahine artists to develop their carving practice.

Strengthening Cultural Art Forms

Stone carving is an important part of Māori visual culture., also telling our stories, our tohu and keeping the carving practice is vital to having a healthy impact to our culture.By enabling wahine artists to work in this medium, we support the continuation and evolution of these practices.

Community Creative Infrastructure

The grinding wheel will become a shared creative resource, supporting not just the initial exhibition but future carving projects as well.

Inspiration and Visibility

The final exhibition will showcase the work of Māori wahine artists and inspire others to engage in carving and cultural creative practices.

Impact on artists.

One of the wahine thoughts on her carving was it's like she had done it before, it was a gift from her whakapapa and a very internal changing experience.

I believe that Kohatu has its own Mauri and wairua.

I believe we are Kaitiaki but we do not have ownership.

I knew I was a kohatu fan, when going to gather rocks, picking it, looking for fractures and imagining what it could become, I was hooked.

I spent hours just studying and then to shape it into our beautiful treasure made me feel proud.

There is not many master carvers from Ngāpuhi left, so it is a privilege to see some at work and it's inspiring to start on our journey with such amazing teachers in our area.

Our Whaikairo nearly died out from the Tohunga suppression act and colonisation, only a few people kept carving alive, it was about survival. The Waiwhatawhata  Marae in the South Hokianga is the only current carved Marae and is a great reference for our style of carving.

Carving gives us more then the act of carving, it is our stories, it is our mark in time it is our culture that nearly didn't survive, so the impact is not only for us but for the future Uri.

We also wanted to thank you for giving us the opportunity and we hope our campaign is successful.

Because we are Wahine with full on lives , we have families to raise, wounds to heal but really under all this we are happy to become one with our art form.