From left to right, Ruth, Sonja, Lorraine, Ron Te Kawa, Ella, Hannah Kerr, Massey and Julie Hook.
Hei Whakapiki Mauri invited fabric artist Ron (Maungarongo) Te Kawa to facilitate quilt making workshops at New Brighton Stitch-O-Mat with whānau over the course of a week in late March. This provided a safe space for whānau to tell their stories through fabrics and visualise their whakapapa through art, all whilst learning new skills and building whanaungatanga.
Ron Te Kawa (Ngāti Porou) is an artist, storyteller, quilter and fashion designer who was visiting Ōtautahi for his exhibition at the Centre of Contemporary Art. Though not currently living in Ōtautahi, Ron is a familiar smiley face at Stitch-O-Mat, as a previous Artist in Residence and a facilitator of workshops and community projects. He starts his workshops with intention setting, which helped to ensure Hei Whakapiki Mauri whānau had the wairua to be fully present.
Ron Te Kawa (right) providing assistance with Lorraine (left) and Ella’s (middle) quilt.
As a mother of two and part of the Hei Whakapiki Mauri whānau, Lorraine Wiersma relished the workshops with Ron as an opportunity to take time out of her schedule and to allow herself time to relax into her creativity. As one of Lorraine’s daughters - Ella - doesn’t use words to communicate, Lorraine wanted to create a quilt that visually tells her pepeha. “I want people to look at Ella with her pepeha blanket and see ‘Māori’, instead of seeing ‘wheelchair’ and ‘disabled’,” said Lorraine.
Working with Ron, Lorraine attached bottles of dye to a swing for Ella to swing around on and dye the fabrics, which were used in Ella’s quilt to represent her maunga and the sunrise. Lorraine focussed on the artwork being as textural as possible to allow Ella to enjoy the various components. With every layer of fabric, a layer of story and meaning was woven in too.
Growing up in Waitara, Taranaki, whānau member Massey Rangi has created his piece around the three feathers (raukura) of Parihaka. For Massey this quilt represents his whakapapa and he says the iconic feathers are an image “everyone from Taranaki has in their homes”.
Massey with his nearly completed quilt.
Ruth Jones, Kaiwhakahaere, sees herself more as a painter than as a textile artist and enjoyed incorporating her hobbies into her quilt by painting her fabrics before using them. Ron intentionally supported whānau members to explore forms of creativity they enjoy as part of their art pieces. Ruth’s piece is less about her whakapapa and more about aroha, which Ron dubbed ‘the journey of the heart’. You can see this theme through the shapes used and the wool that is weaving all the components together, mapping out the pathways.
Ruth says that the workshops have been a powerful experience for whānau. “The process has allowed whānau to explore their own stories in a safe space, and to support each other while doing so. Hei Whakapiki Mauri is looking forward to seeing all the artworks finished and we would like to offer a huge mihi to Ron for bringing us together to expand our creativity,” she said.
Ruth and her ‘Journey Through the Heart’ quilt.
Each quilted piece has been crafted thoughtfully to tell the stories of Hei Whakapiki Mauri whānau and reflect their whakapapa, with Ron guiding the process (and sometimes the sewing machine).
Hei Whakapiki Mauri also used the workshops as a chance to kōrero with organisations and demonstrate the power of Whānau Ora, with Julie Hook and Hannah Kerr visiting from the Ministry of Health’s System Transformation team for the day.
Preparations are now underway to organise an exhibition of the whānau’s work here in Ōtautahi for all the whānau and community to see.