Whitireia Polytechnic’s Toi Poutama Māori art programmes end of year exhibition features weaving and carving work by 2019 students and supporting works by selected graduates from the last 10 years.
In this exhibition you can expect to see a mix of natural materials used to produce a diverse range of kete; from plain and simple to finer, more elaborate and sculptural; tukutuku panel weaving presented as pictures for the wall; a variety of cloaks and capes made of harakeke fibre (muka), and whakairo (wood carving) that have been inspired by waka (canoe), the wharenui (traditional meeting house) and mau rakau (weaponry) of old.
From 2020, Whitireia will no longer be offering Māori art study after over thirty years of existence there. This exhibition shall therefore celebrate the past, present and future of Toi Poutama; the steps of Poutama continuing to climb and ascend through a newly formed Collective, (namely, the Toi Poutama Collective), thus assuring the future of weaving and carving activity through its group of graduates and tutors as practicing artists.
