Toi Māori: The Eternal Thread – Te Aho Mutunga Kore was the first major international touring exhibition of Māori weaving, showcasing some of the finest kākahu, maro, tāniko, tukutuku, piupiu, and kete from expert weavers throughout the motu.
The exhibition celebrated the continuity of excellence in Māori weaving, revealing treasured taonga held in the private collections of weaving dynasties, like the Hetet family, alongside recently made work by contemporary weavers.
Tracing the evolution of Māori weaving to the present day, The Eternal Thread demonstrated the spiritual dimension of weaving within Māori culture, revealing the ‘eternal thread’ of each weaver’s work which connects all Māori throughout time and to other weaving traditions around the world.
The concept for The Eternal Thread was envisaged by Cath Brown and Emily Schuster, who had both served as Chairs of the Māori weavers’ collective Te Roopu Raranga Whatu o Aotearoa. In April 1997, the pair travelled to Sitka, Alaska on a weavers’ expedition, where they met with indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast to learn of their traditional weaving resources and techniques. The many similarities between the Indigenous Alaskan raven’s tail robes and Māori kākahu inspired the concept of a Māori weaving exhibition which would travel along the Northwest Coast of North America and help develop further relationships with First Nation and Native American weaving communities. Furthermore, this concept gave recognition to the talents of Te Roopu Raranga Whatu o Aotearoa and redressed the omission of Māori weaving from the landmark Te Māori exhibition, which toured North America in the previous decade.
Written by Lily Kara-Liu (Waikato-Tainui, Ngāpuhi). 07 Feb 2023.