Wānanga 2 – Kākahu (Textile and Fibre) with Rangi Te Kanawa
Tuesday, 30 July 2024
The second of the five wānanga was hosted at the end of May 2024, at Tarimano marae, Te Awahou, and was facilitated by Textiles Conservator, specialising in Māori textiles, Rangituatahi Te Kanawa (Ngāti Uekaha, Ngāti Rora).
Rangituatahi worked at Te Papa Tongarewa as a textiles conservator for 25 years, before returning home to Te Kuiti where she continues to support Māori communities by carrying out conservation work at their marae or home, or in her private practice.
This wānanga, organised in collaboration with Te Papa Tongarewa, National Services Te Paerangi, focussed on the care and protection of Māori textiles. Participants were invited to bring a taonga in their care and learn about the risks that cause damage to these textiles over time, how to mitigate the risks, and what the appropriate storage system would be for their taonga.
Participants were taught how to make a suitable storage system using museum grade resources provided at the wānanga. This wānanga ran over two and a half days and had 40 participants, representing 25 Te Arawa hapū and iwi.
Here is what some of our participants had to share about this kaupapa:
“Seeing all the different korowai, kahu kiwi, which may only happen once in my lifetime, on a marae short of going to a museum.”
“The learning. Constant learning and sharing throughout the entire wānanga. Not only the expertise of Rangi Te Kanawa, but the facilitators and/or kaimahi from the museum space. Provided guidance required to learn. Understanding and apply new skills.”
“So grateful to have access to this wānanga! Giving Iwi descendants the mana and mātauranga to care for their taonga is mana enhancing.”
This series of wānanga enabled access to Mātanga (Conservators) visiting our rohe and sharing their mātauranga with our whānau to help them care for taonga at home and on the marae. Wānanga covered a range of topics including digitalisation, kākahu (textile & fibre), whāriki (floor coverings), hard materials and archival care.
Whilst participation was free, the commitment for each participant was to return home and share the mātauranga they learnt.
