Without preservation Maori Culture will die

A Tohunga Whakairo says fragmenting traditional Maori art will be the demise of its culture.

Te Taonui-a-Kupe Rickard is the Head of Te Wananga Whakairo Rakau at Te Puia, NZ Maori Arts and Crafts Institute. The school is responsible for the carving and restoration of over 40 marae around the country, currently undertaking the carving of whakairo for a marae being erected in Kaiaua for Ngati Paoa.

Mr Rickard, the son of the late Eva Rickard, was a student in the first intake of Te Wananga Whakairo Rakau in 1967 under the tutelage of Tohunga Whakairo Hone Taiapa. He believes the preservation of traditional art forms such as whakairo is key to the future of Maori culture past and as it is today.

"This school is a necessary part of that survival of our culture, as it is now, as we know it. If you continually change bits and pieces of your culture you're going to end up with nothing. So hopefully the legacy of Te Puia will be to maintain. Maintain what we have."

The school currently has 9 students enrolled in the fulltime 3-year programme and 2 post-graduate students.