Artwork information

Hinemihi o Te Ao Tawhito (Hinemihi of the Old World) is a whare whakairo or carved meeting house, pictured here at its current site at Clandon House in Surrey, England. It was created by celebrated Ngāti Tarāwhai tohunga whakairo, master carvers, Tene Waitere (1853–1931) and his mentor, Wero Tāroi (circa 1810–circa 1880s). Hinemihi was commissioned by Tūhourangi chief Āporo Te Wharekāniwha of Te Wairoa at Lake Tarawera and opened in March 1881. It was named after a female ancestor. The whare was used for customary purposes by local hapū Ngāti Hinemihi, and by tourist guides such as Te Paea Hinerangi, Guide Sophia, to welcome visitors to Te Otukapuarangi and Te Tarata, the Pink and White Terraces.

After surviving the 1886 eruption of Mount Tarawera, the wharenui was bought by departing Governor William Hillier Onslow, who reassembled it in the garden of his stately home, Clandon House, in Surrey, England. In 1956 Clandon Park was transferred to the care of the United Kingdom’s National Trust.

For many years Hinemihi has been a cherished beacon for Māori living in the United Kingdom. While Clandon House was destroyed by fire in 2015, Hinemihi itself was unaffected and in 2019 the National Trust announced that the whare would return to Aotearoa at a future date.

Through his earlier work in Rotorua, Adams had met members of the extended whānau of Waitere, including his great-granddaughter Emily Schuster, a renowned weaver, and her son, Māori heritage expert James Schuster. With their support, in 1999 Adams embarked on a project to photograph three of his carved whare whakairo.