Tīvaivai artist loves this part of Wellington where people ‘look like me’
1 Dec 2025, Sharon Stephenson
This article first appeared in The Post on 29 November 2025
This article first appeared in The Post on 29 November 2025
It started with repairing her great-grandmother’s tīvaivai (traditional Cook Islands quilt) and progressed to The Mamas, a group of Cook Islands women who meet each week to celebrate and evolve the artistic practice of tīvaivai.
It’s now led artist/educator Tehani Buchanan-Whaipooti , 35, to co-curate Tipurepure ‘Au Vaine, an exhibition showcasing The Mamas’ work. Buchanan (Ngāti Rupe Makea) lives in Rānui, Porirua, with her daughters Amalija, 9, Ruataupare, 4, and son Gabrijel, and her fiancée Julia Whaipooti (Ngāti Porou), the co-chief executive of the NZ Human Rights Commission.
TEHANI: I was born in Rarotonga, but my parents separated when I was three, and I moved to Wellington.
My father Tim Buchanan is a full-time artist in Rarotonga, so I was always drawn to creative pursuits. I did a BA in Māori and politics, which took six years as I was nursing a former boyfriend who had cancer.
I taught Māori in Auckland for two and a half years, first at St Mary’s College, then at Takapuna Grammar. We wanted to buy a house but the Auckland market was booming, and we thought Wellington would be next, so, in 2016, we moved back to the capital and hustled really hard on my low teaching salary and my children’s father’s labouring salary to buy this four-bedroom, two-storey house.
It’s a 186sqm 1957 former state house that over the years we’ve done quite a bit to, including turning the ground-floor single garage and rumpus room into a one-bedroom self-contained space with an ensuite and kitchen where a friend is currently living.
We also converted a separate toilet and bathroom upstairs into a spacious bathroom, which is my oasis.
I love colour, so I have slowly been painting all the walls. The living room and our bedroom are green, the kids’ bedroom is blue, the hallway is lilac, and I painted a black swirly mural in the dining room. There are only a couple of white walls left now.
I’ve got an eclectic interior style and love filling the house with items I’ve picked up on my travels or from Trade Me or Facebook Marketplace. But I’m intentional about what I bring across the threshold because items have to have a history or a story. That also extends to buying indigenous art from my community of art friends, so we’re creating a circular system of raising each other up in our respective practices.
I also have a soft spot for vintage pieces, such as the vintage sideboard my late Papa bought in Malaysia on his way back from the Vietnam War. It’s travelled with me through all my flats because I’ll never be able to part with it.
Future plans include double glazing, adding a pergola and a sauna and planting more native trees. I don’t have the biggest green thumb, but Julia’s mother is an amazing gardener so we’re hoping she’ll help us.
I love Porirua because most of the people here look like me. Home is where the heart is and for us that’s Porirua which has everything we need from great parks and cafes to Bunnings. Living here feeds my creativity.
There’s a great cafe, Local Authority Speciality Coffee Bar, next to the gym, but I also like Cafe Kaizen, in Pātaka Art + Museum. A couple of times a week I’ll work there and wander around the exhibitions in my breaks. Their keto omelette is delicious.
Every Sunday, Julia and I walk the Te Onepoto Loop Track, a 4.6km trail, which has amazing views, wetlands and beaches. It takes us about 1.5 hours and, if the weather’s nice, we might stop for a skinny dip. Every morning, I walk through Bothamley Park before I start work.
Tehani Buchanan-Whaipooti is co-curating and has work featured in Tipurepure ‘Au Vaine at Pātaka Art + Museum from December 6.
