Wānanga 3 – Whāriki (floor covering) with Rangi Te Kanawa
Tuesday, 30 July 2024
The third of our Taonga Care Wānanga looked at the care of whāriki (floor coverings) on marae and was hosted at Kearoa marae, Horohoro, at the start of June 2024.
This wānanga, organised in collaboration with Te Papa Tongarewa, National Services Te Paerangi, was facilitated by textiles conservator, specialising in Māori textiles, Rangituatahi Te Kanawa (Ngāti Uekaha, Ngāti Rora). Rangi 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.
Day one was a facilitated discussion on the best way to care for whāriki by assessing their physical condition and make-up, understanding the mātauranga in the design, then investigating appropriate storage solutions.
Marae are often challenged by lack of space to lie whāriki flat, so appropriate storage is a big concern for many marae. Rangi shared her knowledge of conservation and restoration to maintain mātauranga of the whāriki and restore lost or damaged elements by re-weaving new elements.
Day two was an organised visit to some marae within the rohe (Tarimano, Pikirangi and Apumoana) which had whāriki requiring attention. Rangi was able to provide an on-site assessment and advise on the next steps with a view to continue supporting these whānau.
45 participants from across 25 Te Arawa hapū/iwi attended the whāriki wānanga and shared these thoughts on the kaupapa:
“I have learnt a lot about the analysis of whāriki resources. This wānanga helped solidify the understanding around the differences between conservation and restoration.”
“I value access to Rangi and her expertise – conservation, practice skills, materials and application of that expertise. Value ability to build on whanaungatanga with participants from previous workshops.” “Enjoyed storage discussions this is a real issue for our iwi.”
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.
