Erenora Puketapu-Hetet
Encyclopedia
Erenora Puketapu-Hetet 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. Of Te Atiawa descent, she grew up close to the marae
in Waiwhetū
near Wellington and moved to Te Kuiti
after marrying Rangi Hetet
, the master carver who had worked on the marae. While they lived in Te Kuiti, his grandmother, Rangimārie Hetet, taught her the arts of making korowai (cloaks). They returned to Waiwhetū
and she worked at Te Papa
as Maori Protocol Officer/Advisor. 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. A number of her works are in the collection at Te Papa.
In common with other Māori artists, she believed that art had a spiritual dimension and hidden meanings:
She wove using materials such as muka
(prepared fibre of New Zealand flax
), paua shell, stainless steel wire and feathers, including kiwi
feathers.
She was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit
in 2002 for services to weaving. She was appointed to the board of the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute
in 2004. She was a member of the Queen Elizabeth Arts Council of New Zealand.
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
weaver and author. She was a key figure in the Māori cultural renaissance and helped lift Māori weaving from a craft to an art. Of Te Atiawa descent, she grew up close to the marae
Marae
A marae malae , malae , is a communal or sacred place which serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies...
in Waiwhetū
Waiwhetu
Waiwhetū is a suburb of Lower Hutt, Wellington situated at the bottom of the North Island of New Zealand.Waiwhetū is largely built on land that set aside as a native reserve for the Te Āti Awa tribe in the 1840s. In the 1930s the land was compulsorily acquired by the government, with new homes...
near Wellington and moved to Te Kuiti
Te Kuiti
Te Kuiti is a small town in the south of the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. It lies at the junction of State Highways 3 and 30 and on the North Island Main Trunk Railway, 80 km south of Hamilton....
after marrying Rangi Hetet
Rangi Hetet
Born 18th April 1937 to Charles Wilson Hetet and Lillian .Married Erenora Puketapu at Waiwhetu Marae 1960. Has 4 children, Lillian, Kataraina, Veranoa and Len...
, the master carver who had worked on the marae. While they lived in Te Kuiti, his grandmother, Rangimārie Hetet, taught her the arts of making korowai (cloaks). They returned to Waiwhetū
Waiwhetu
Waiwhetū is a suburb of Lower Hutt, Wellington situated at the bottom of the North Island of New Zealand.Waiwhetū is largely built on land that set aside as a native reserve for the Te Āti Awa tribe in the 1840s. In the 1930s the land was compulsorily acquired by the government, with new homes...
and she worked at Te Papa
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is the national museum and art gallery of New Zealand, located in Wellington. It is branded and commonly known as Te Papa and Our Place; "Te Papa Tongarewa" is broadly translatable as "the place of treasures of this land".The museum's principles...
as Maori Protocol Officer/Advisor. 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. A number of her works are in the collection at Te Papa.
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.
- Maori weaving is full of symbolism and hidden meanings. embodied with the spiritual values and beliefs of the Maori people.
She wove using materials such as muka
Muka
Muka is prepared fibre of New Zealand flax . Prepared primarily by scrapping, pounding and washing, it is a key material in Māori traditional textiles where is is usually used in tāniko or twined weaving, as in the figure right....
(prepared fibre of New Zealand flax
New Zealand flax
New Zealand flax describes common New Zealand perennial plants Phormium tenax and Phormium cookianum, known by the Māori names harakeke and wharariki respectively...
), paua shell, stainless steel wire and feathers, including kiwi
Kiwi
Kiwi are flightless birds endemic to New Zealand, in the genus Apteryx and family Apterygidae.At around the size of a domestic chicken, kiwi are by far the smallest living ratites and lay the largest egg in relation to their body size of any species of bird in the world...
feathers.
She was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit
New Zealand Order of Merit
The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order established in 1996 "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rendered meritorious service to the Crown and nation or who have become distinguished by their eminence, talents, contributions or other merits."The order includes five...
in 2002 for services to weaving. She was appointed to the board of the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute
New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute
The New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute opened in 1967 in Rotorua, New Zealand due to the impending threat of the loss of traditional Māori arts. In 1926 a Māori Arts and Crafts school had been established in Rotorua by Sir Apirana Ngata, and the new school continued the tradition in a...
in 2004. She was a member of the Queen Elizabeth Arts Council of New Zealand.