Tauhei Hakuwai

Kei te whai a Rangi Kipa i ngā takahanga o ngā tohunga whakairo. Kua whakangungua ia ki ngā tikanga tuku iho hei whakairo, he tohunga tā moko ia, he ringa rehe ki te hanga i ngā whakapīwari a Kipa, ka mutu ko tāna mahi toi he whakahokahokai i ngā tikanga toi tuku iho mā ētahi tikanga hou, tikanga ihiihi. Ko ngā hei tiki takatakai e toru nei he toi e maumahara ai i ētahi toi tawhito rawa e mōhiotia ana. Whakamahia ai te kōiwi o te moa kua korehāhā ināianei, hei hanga rākeitanga, tae atu ki te hei tiki takatakai, arā te mau kakī. Ko ēnei rākeitanga he mea kua hukea mai i Te Pokohiwi, i te raki-mā-rāwhiti o Te Waipounamu i te tau 1939, ā, ko ētahi nō te wā o te AD1300. Ko tā Kipa he mātai i tēnei āhuahanga rongonui, e mōhiotia ana mō te ōritenga ki ngā tūtanga tuaiwi, ā, ka hokahokaina mā te whakauru i te whakatōpūnga o te parāoa, o te angaanga, o ngā pirepire kiriaku, o te miro kātene, ka mutu ka hangaia he rākeitanga hou i takea ai i ngā tikanga me te mātauranga mō ngā rawa, nō te ao kōhatu.

Rangi Kipa follows in the footsteps of tohunga whakairo (expert art practitioners). Trained in customary Māori carving, an expert ta moko (tattoo) artist and a gifted adornment maker, Kipa has forged a diverse art practice that builds upon customary art traditions with innovative and dynamic developments. The three reel necklaces presented here recall mau kakī, some of the earliest known Māori adornment made from bone of the now extinct moa bird. Excavated from Wairau Bar/ Te Pokohiwi, in the north-eastern South Island in 1939, some of these ornaments date as early as AD1300. Kipa expands this iconic form, noted for its likeness to vertebrae by incorporating a mixture of whalebone, shell, coloured acrylic beads and cotton thread. Kipa creates new expressions inspired by centuries-old making traditions and material knowledge.

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