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]

Erenora Puketapu-Hetet

ONZM JP
Born
Erenora Puketapu

(1941-01-28)28 January 1941
Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Died23 July 2006(2006-07-23) (aged 65)
Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Known forWeaver and author
Spouse(s)Rangi Hetet
RelativesIhaia Puketapu (father)
Ihakara Puketapu (brother)
Veranoa Hetet (daughter)
Kataraina Hetet (daughter)

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), who was Pākehā, and her husband Ihaia Porutu Puketapu.[4]

Puketapu-Hetet grew up in the Te Atiawa tribal settlement at Waiwhetū marae near Lower Hutt and married Rangi Hetet, one of the carvers who had worked on the marae. Rangi's grandmother, Rangimārie Hetet, taught Erenora the art of whatu kākahu korowai (cloaks). Erenora wove the first kahu kiwi for the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute when she and Rangi worked there in the late 1970s: she tutored weaving there from 1978 to 1981.[5] In the early 80s the couple returned to the Hutt Valley, where they led the decoration of Wainuiomata Marae. Later the couple worked at Te Papa as Maori Protocol Officer/Advisor.[6] 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.[7][8][9][10] A number of her works are in the collection at Te Papa.[11]

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.[12]

Maori weaving is full of symbolism and hidden meanings. embodied with the spiritual values and beliefs of the Maori people.[13]

She wove using materials such as muka (prepared fibre of New Zealand flax), paua shell, stainless steel wire and feathers, including kiwi feathers.[14][15]

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

A survey exhibition of the work of Erenora Puketapu-Hetet and Rangi Hetet, Legacy: The Art of Rangi Hetet and Erenora Puketapu-Hetet, was staged at The Dowse Art Museum in 2016.[16]

The British Museum holds a pair of poi made by Puketapu-Hetet in 1995 and a kete muka (woven bag) made in 1994. The kete is made of flax fibre dyed black, woven in double-row twining, and decorated with a taniko border in black, brown, yellow and white, and has two rows of pheasant feathers along the bottom.[17]

Puketapu-Hete's daughters Veranoa Hetet and Kataraina Hetet are also weavers.[18]

Awards and recognitions

In 1990, Puketapu-Hetet was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal.[3] She was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2002 New Year Honours, for services to weaving.[19] She was appointed to the board of the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute in 2004.[20] She was a member of the Queen Elizabeth Arts Council of New Zealand.[6]

Works
  • Erenora Puketapu-Hetet, Maori weaving, Auckland: Pitman, 1989 ISBN 0-908575-77-7[21]

Further information

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. Taylor, Alister, ed. (2001). "New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa 2001". New Zealand Who's Who, Aotearoa. Auckland: Alister Taylor Publishers. ISSN 1172-9813.
  4. Dekker, Diana (3 August 2006). "Weaver threaded ancient craft into modern era". Dominion Post. p. 7.
  5. Tamati-Quennell, Megan (1993). Pū Manawa: a celebration of whatu, raranga, and tāniko. Wellington: Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-909010-00-3.
  6. "beehive.govt.nz - PM Announces Apec 99 Art And Culture Advisory Group". beehive.govt.nz. 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
  7. "National Library of New Zealand Catalogue Holdings Information". Nlnzcat.natlib.govt.nz. Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  8. "National Library of New Zealand Catalogue Holdings Information". Nlnzcat.natlib.govt.nz. 15 August 1993. Archived from the original on 11 July 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  9. "National Library of New Zealand Catalogue Holdings Information". Nlnzcat.natlib.govt.nz. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  10. "TE AO HOU The New World". teaohou.natlib.govt.nz. 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
  11. "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
  12. "A Cultural-Historical Reading of Patricia Grace's Cousins". nzetc.org. 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
  13. "Raranga". maaori.com. 2009. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
  14. "Weaver Erenora Puketapu-Hetet showing off her handiwork - a kiwi feather cloak". fulbright.org.nz. 2011. Archived from the original on 17 March 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
  15. "Te Papa - Tai Awatea / Knowledge Net - Erenora Puketapu-Hetet, Te Atiawa". Tpo.tepapa.govt.nz. 14 August 2001. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  16. "Legacy: The Art of Rangi Hetet and Erenora Puketapu-Hetet". The Dowse. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  17. Dorota Starzecka; Roger Neich; Mick Prendergrast (2010). The Māori Collections of the British Museum. British Museum Press. ISBN 978-0-7141-2594-7. OL 30499958M. Wikidata Q104706202.
  18. Awhina Tamarapa (2011). Whatu Kākahu : Māori Cloaks. Wellington: Te Papa Press. ISBN 978-1-877385-56-8. Wikidata Q104705927.
  19. "New Year honours list 2002". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 31 December 2001. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  20. "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.
  21. "Maori weaving / with Erenora Puketapu-Hetet". nlnzcat.natlib.govt.nz. 2011. Archived from the original on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
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