Find out more about Areta Wilkinson's practice and her beautifully crafted taonga in this video produced by Ngāi Tahu.
Running time 9:12
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Mihimihi written by Tahu and Megan Potiki for Areta Wilkinson’s PhD. It references a mihimihi given at Maori Parliament to the treasures of Te Waipounamu (recorded in Te Puke ki Hikurangi 21 December, 1897: 1)
Areta Wilkinson - Ngā Ringa Toi o Tahu, from the YouTube series 'We are Ngāi Tahu', 2017.
Reproduced courtesy of Ngāi Tahu
Areta Wilkinson: Moa-Hunter Fashions
He mea whakamana tēnei takinga i ngā taonga whakapaipai o Te Waipounamu pēnei i te tikumu, te taramea, te pounamu, te rau tītapu, te hou toroa. He taonga mana nui ēnei ki te Māori hei whakapaipai. E ai ki a Ngāi Tahu ko te 'mahinga kai' te kīanga mō te wāhi ka kohi, ka whakamau, ka whakarite i ēnei rawa o te taiao, tae atu hoki ki aua rawa tonu rā.
Kua hangā e Areta Wilkinson tana ake 'mahinga kai' kei te whaiawa i waenga tonu i ngā maunga me te moana. I taua wāhi ka wānanga ia i te mana o ngā hononga, te hono ki ngā kaihanga o mua me tō rātou māramatanga ki ngā rauemi.
Ka whakamahi a Wilkinson i ngā rauemi taketake, i ngā uku, i te koura, i ngā hangarau kōhatu, i te whakaahutoru o ngā mea o mua, i ngā whakaahua o ngā parakai mai i te wā o te kaiaru moa. Ka whakahoahoa ia i ēnei mea hei hanga hei whakaahua rānei e whakamana ana i ngā takenga mai o aua rawa, ngā whakapapa me tōna rārangi kaihanga.
This mihimihi honours kā taoka whakapaipai o Te Waipounamu, the treasured resources of the South Island including tikumu (mountain daisy), taramea (wild speargrass), pounamu (nephrite jade), feathers from tītapu (bellbird) and toroa (albatross). Highly valued by early Māori, these prized resources were used to create adornments. Customary sites for the collection and processing of natural resources are called mahinga kai by Ngāi Tahu.
Ngāi Tahu artist Areta Wilkinson has created her own mahinga kai, a maker’s space situated on the riverbed somewhere between mountain and sea. In this site, she explores the importance of making relationships, connecting with both an extensive history of makers and their material knowledge.
Wilkinson uses indigenous materials, local clays and gold, stone technologies, 3D prints of archaic artefacts and photograms of bones from moa-hunter middens. She fashions these into images and objects that pay tribute to their pasts, recalling whakapapa (genealogical links or connections) and her lineage as a maker from Te Waipounamu.
This exhibition was on display at Te Ara Ātea from December 2021 to June 2023.