Pounamu School Launch

Sir Apirana Ngata’s vision further realised

With the launch of the Pounamu Development and Training Unit at Te Puia, the late Māori leader’s dream of perpetuating Māori arts and crafts as pillars of Māori culture has taken another step forward.

The Māori Arts and Crafts Institute Act was passed in 1926 by the efforts of Sir Apirana Ngata and supporters such as Hon. Jospeh Gordon Coates. It would be another 30 years before the NZ Māori Arts and Crafts Institute took residence within the Whakarewarewa Geothermal Valley in 1967, now known as Te Puia. Over that time Te Puia has trained students in carving and weaving traditions, and at one point, had a local pounamu carver on site.

The Pounamu Unit will include a back-of-house workshop and a display carver in the existing Carving School to talk to visitors about the art form. Carved pounamu – made onsite – will be available to the public by mid to late October.

The team – lead by Lewis Gardiner (Ngāti Pikiao/Ngāi Tahu) – will also be training existing Te Puia students in the time honoured tradition of pounamu, and will be offering training to prospective students in the near future.

As part of the pōwhiri to welcome the team of carvers, Te Puia will also be launching its own Official Mark of Authenticity as an independent quality measure, guaranteeing the standard of workmanship across all tāonga produced by the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute.

Te Puia Chief Executive Te Taru White says “we are excited about this new development; it is another opportunity for Te Puia to fulfill its responsibilities to maintain and develop Māori arts, crafts and culture for future generations”.

The mana of a stolen tāonga has been restored

A Māori carving taken from an Earthquake Engineering conference in China has been replaced with an exact replica carved by the National Carving School at Te Puia.

The 37 centimeter tall carving was originally carved by Master Carver Charles Tuarau and represented Ruaumoko, the God of Earthquakes. The carving has been held by The University of Canterbury’s Engineering Department since 1991. It was stolen from the Jiuhua International Conference Centre in October last year.

Mr Tuarau was part of an early intake to Te Ao Marama, the first National Māori Carving School which would later become Te Wānanga Whakairo Rākau at Te Puia.

Resident Master Carver Clive Fugill says carving the replica was made easier by modern technology “From the photos sent up we were able to create an image which showed the exact dimensions and detail.”

The carving took 2 weeks to produce and the only difference is the colour of the base which is slightly darker than the original.

A formal ceremony is being held on September 10^th where The University of Canterbury Vice-Chancellor (Māori) Sir Tipene O’Regan will place the new carving where the original ‘Te Tāonga o Ruaumoko’ was housed in the school’s Engineering Library.