Soon after landing into New Zealand it had been only five minutes on my bus route towards the city centre that I first came to be awed by the beauty of this country. It is early morning; the sun is rising and the vibrant green grass is sparking with dew. Hovering just above the ground is a thick band of moist air which is being drawn up off the grass by the suns first heat. It is mid-summer and the pilot had announced before landing into Auckland that New Zealand was experiencing a heat wave.
Throughout history no doubt many visitors upon arrival would have been amazed as I was by this picturesque country. A first impression was captured in a journal entry from 1842. Mary Ann Martin a migrant coming from England had written ‘The tall leaves of the flax glittered in the sunlight. To a Londoner born and bred this home seems like a fairyland. The clear air seemed to quiver and sparkle with light’.
Pacific seafarers expedited to this ever-green land long before the colonial disturbance. Before Europeans the first people to arrive more than 1,000 years ago used the sun, stars and the cycles of nature to find their way, following migrating birds from out in the Pacific Islands leading them to what then became known as Aotearoa. Ancient voyage stories continue to be told today by the Maori people, who adorn all things of the sea as they consider their ancestors are of the sea.
The flax as described in Marys journal entry grows wild in Aotearoa and contributes to the look of New Zealand’s unique scenery. Flax was the European name given to the Harakeke plant that has been traditionally used by the Maori people for weaving and for medicine for centuries.
As like the stems of the harakeke plant the Maori culture stand stronger together. Grounded deeply by their spiritual connection to the pulsating ground beneath them, the moving seas around them, the white cloud above them and the greenery that surrounds them. Togetherness has forever been their strength especially in times and need of being active warriors.
Whanau is a Maori word I had learnt long before I ever arrived here, it’s meaning in the Maori language is ‘family’. The Maori people have long depicted their family unity in the harakeke plant in that the new inner shoots are the children protected by the matua, the parents. The outside leaves represent the kaumatua, the grandparents and the tupuna, their ancestors. It is custom when collecting the leaves for weaving and medicine that only the outside leaves are allowed to be harvested to give opportunity for the young inner shoots to grow up big and strong.
I had planned to take a traditional harakeke weaving class in Rotorua with Anna Hayes who is a contemporary Maori weaver at The Rotorua Arts Village. The Arts Village was purpose built in 2002, thanks to the Rotorua Charity Trust, combining three historic dwellings that were each over 100 years old. This cleverly designed venue is very well used today and a creative space that all the towns people are proud of.
Weaving harakeke in Maori language is called Raranga. For my lesson in Raranga, Anna suggested we sit out in the Arts Village’s charming grounds under a tree as the air was warm. Our setting seemed ideal for me to attain an understanding of this old craft. Anna’s inherent connection for weaving with the harakeke plant was so sweet. She presented a written pray the we recited in honour of the Maori goddess of arts, Hineteiwaiwa before we began our class.
With Anna’s instructions I was soon on my own little creative mission of bending, folding, tucking and moulding the long thin leaves into a flower design. It was while I was in my mini weaving trance that my mind wondered and lead me to think that this was an age-old practical maths class that I was undertaking. This ancient craft has a mathematical sequence where counting is impediment to the design. Weaving is where functional mathematics and art come together in sequence. Like any subject there is always the require understanding of the basics concepts before one can move onto something more complexed.
In that moment I felt then the cultural importance of what weaving the harakeke was to all the past energies who had ever practiced and mastered Raranga. Just as I received my insight sitting out under that tree, Anna informed me it is a custom that the first ever Raranga that you make must be gifted.
During my time in New Zealand I wanted to immerse myself into as many arts as possible. That evening I took a taxi out of town to stay with a textile artist named Lori. Lori runs workshops in felting using the best of New Zealand’s raw merino wool. She runs the workshops from her brightly coloured batch at the top of a hill overlooking a picturesque green lake. After a great night’s rest in her Airbnb I woke the next morning to spend a whole day in her light filled space learning to felt. Her workshop ran for 6 hours and at the end I had made a custom fitted pair of slippers that I got to take home. My Raranga flower I gifted to Lori.
A few days later I flew down to the bottom on the North Island to the Kapiti coast to visit a natural dyer and eco -print artist Birgit. I then took a train from Wellington up the west coast passing small seaside towns that were nestled in between green rolling hills. The sky was slightly stormy and the clouds were low to the ground wet. The ocean glittered grey blue and was still as the wind blow over the top of it and out to sea. The train line ran high up upon the cliff and I could look down onto the rocks and black sand as the train passed by each bay. It’s was a moody foraging type of day.
At the end of the line I was greeted by the very chatty and bubbly Birgit who drove me to her art studio in the county side. Our first stop for our day of plant dyeing was the grocers to get some onion skins for our dye pot. Close by to her studio we stopped again to forage for native New Zealand leaves to bundle with. It had only been the day before I had seen her designs in the famous national Te Papa Museum gift store. I was already impressed by her artistic flair topped with her vast knowledge of native species. My main adjective from my trip was to work with New Zealand dye plants and I knew I had found the right lady to learn from.
New Zealand is a creatives haven where inspiration comes from just being there. For me this trip was a personal launch in new growth. I came to do some art but never ever expected for it to also change a little of my heart.
For more information on the felting, weaving or eco dyeing courses please click on the website links below..
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