Erenora Puketapu-Hetet

Erenora Puketapu-Hetet ONZM JP (née Puketapu, 28 January 1941 – 23 July 2006) was a noted New Zealand weaver and author. She was a key figure in the Māori cultural renaissance and helped lift Māori weaving from a craft to an art.[1][2]

Biography

Of Te Atiawa descent, Puketapu-Hetet was born in Lower Hutt on 28 January 1941.[3] Her parents were Vera May Puketapu (née Yeates), a Pākehā, and her husband Ihaia Porutu Puketapu.[4] She grew up close to the marae in Waiwhetū near Wellington and moved to Te Kuiti after marrying Rangi Hetet, the master carver who had worked on the marae. While they lived in Te Kuiti, his grandmother, Rangimārie Hetet, taught her the arts of making korowai (cloaks). They returned to Waiwhetū and she worked at Te Papa as Maori Protocol Officer/Advisor.[5] Part of her work at Te Papa involved bridge-building between the Māori world and the European cultural institutions, leading to her featuring in a number of weaving-related works.[6][7][8][9] A number of her works are in the collection at Te Papa.[10]

In common with other Māori artists, she believed that art had a spiritual dimension and hidden meanings:

The ancient Polynesian belief is that the artist is a vehicle through whom the gods can create. Art is sacred and interrelated with the concepts of mauri, mana and tapu.[11]
Maori weaving is full of symbolism and hidden meanings. embodied with the spiritual values and beliefs of the Maori people.[12]

She wove using materials such as muka (prepared fibre of New Zealand flax), paua shell, stainless steel wire and feathers, including kiwi feathers.[13][14]

In 1990, Puketapu-Hetet was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal.[3] She was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2002 New Year Honours for services to weaving. She was appointed to the board of the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute in 2004.[15] She was a member of the Queen Elizabeth Arts Council of New Zealand.[5]

Puketapu-Hetet died at Lower Hutt on 23 July 2006.[4]

Works

References

  1. ↑ "Obituary: Erenora Puketapu-Hetet". nzherald.co.nz. 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2011. Erenora Puketapu-Hetet, weaver, cultural leader. Died aged 65.
  2. ↑ "Weaving Magic – Erenora Puketapu-Hetet". penneylaneonline.com. 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2011. When one speaks of renaissance in weaving one might consider Erenora Puketapu-Hetet, weaver and cultural leader a major contributor to the Maori cultural renaissance and a key instigator of the push to turn Maori weaving from a craft into an art form. Her steel wire and paua-shell cloak, made on the theme of the Maori fishing rights settlement was part of ‘The Eternal Thread’ Exhibition that toured the US between August 2005 to June 2006.
  3. 1 2 Taylor, Alister, ed. (2001). New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa 2001. Auckland: Alister Taylor Publishers. ISSN 1172-9813.
  4. 1 2 Dekker, Diana (3 August 2006). "Weaver threaded ancient craft into modern era". Dominion Post. p. 7.
  5. 1 2 "beehive.govt.nz - PM Announces Apec 99 Art And Culture Advisory Group". beehive.govt.nz. 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
  6. ↑ "National Library of New Zealand Catalogue Holdings Information". Nlnzcat.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 2016-02-19.
  7. ↑ "National Library of New Zealand Catalogue Holdings Information". Nlnzcat.natlib.govt.nz. 1993-08-15. Retrieved 2016-02-19.
  8. ↑ "National Library of New Zealand Catalogue Holdings Information". Nlnzcat.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 2016-02-19.
  9. ↑ "TE AO HOU The New World". teaohou.natlib.govt.nz. 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
  10. ↑ "Puketapu-Hetet, Erenora - Collections Online - Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa". collections.tepapa.govt.nz. 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2011. Person: Puketapu-Hetet, Erenora
  11. ↑ "A Cultural-Historical Reading of Patricia Grace’s Cousins". nzetc.org. 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
  12. ↑ "Raranga". maaori.com. 2009. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
  13. ↑ "Weaver Erenora Puketapu-Hetet showing off her handiwork - a kiwi feather cloak". fulbright.org.nz. 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
  14. ↑ "Te Papa - Tai Awatea / Knowledge Net - Erenora Puketapu-Hetet, Te Atiawa". Tpo.tepapa.govt.nz. 2001-08-14. Retrieved 2016-02-19.
  15. ↑ "beehive.govt.nz - Maori Arts and Crafts Institute Board appointments". beehive.govt.nz. 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2011. Erenora Puketapu-Hetet, co-founder of the Maori Treasures arts and craft centre, has been weaving for 25 years, including 17 as a tutor and lecturer. Her work is held in very high regard, and has been exhibited internationally.
  16. ↑ "Maori weaving / with Erenora Puketapu-Hetet.". nlnzcat.natlib.govt.nz. 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
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