Lianne Dalziel
27 April, 2007
Mana Wahine Week 2007: Korowai Fashion Show
Launching the Korowai Fashion Show
MAORI MARKet,
Wellington
Rau rangatira ma, tenei te mihi ki a koutou i runga i te kaupapa o te ra – mana wahine. Tenei te mihi mahana ki a koutou. Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena ra tatou katoa.
Greetings to all who have gathered here, but particularly to my parliamentary colleagues, the Chief Executive of Toi Maori, Garry Nicholas and the Chair, Waana Davis, and Dame Georgina.
I am pleased to officially launch the Korowai Fashion Parade at the MAORI MARKet to mark Mana Wahine Week 2007.
This event provides us with just a glimpse of the immense range of talents that Mana Wahine week enables Maori women to showcase. I was privileged to be escorted through Te Toi Maori Eternal Thread Exhibition in Christchurch last week by Ranui Ngarimu who has been one of the leaders throughout this project and I want to thank her for that. Ranui was able to make the weaving speak to me in a new way, by unlocking the histories of the artists, the materials and the designs. Erenora Puketapu-Hetet once expressed concern that the complexity of modern living has meant we have grown away from nature and understanding its deeper meaning. This art form connects us to the land. I am honoured to be able to join you all today in celebrating the leadership and innovation of these Mâori women in the creative sector by opening this parade. The creations that you are about to see, I am sure, will engage, not only your eye, but also your heart and your soul.
No reira, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa.
Speech to Korowai Fashion After-Show Event
E nga kairaranga, e nga kaiwhatu
To weavers, plaiters (mats/baskets), to weavers (of garments).
E nga Tiamana o te roopu o nga kairaranga me nga kaiwhatu e Edna, e Tina,
To the Chairs of the National Weavers’ Collective, Edna and Tina.
Tenei te mihi mahana ki a koutou.
This is a greeting to you.
E te Kaihautu o Toi Maori, e Garry Nicholas.
E te Tiamana o Toi Maori, e Waana Davis.
Tena korua.
To the Chief Executive of Toi Maori, Garry Nicholas
to the Chair of Toi Maori, Waana Davis
greetings to you both.
E aku hoa mahi e nga Minita, e Dame Georgina, kei te mihi ki a koutou.
To my colleagues, Ministers, to Dame Georgina, greetings to you all.
Tena Koutou, tena koutou, tena ra tatou katoa
One of the great things about being Minister of Women’s Affairs is that I get to come to events such as the MAORI MARKet and to experience the vast range of talents to be found in New Zealand women.
Nowhere is this more obvious than in the relatively recent renaissance of Maori arts, culture and language. In the arts, this has included film, music, theatre, dance and fashion, as well as in weaving and the visual arts.
The National Weavers’ Collective has been an important part of that revival, fostering this powerful art form and encouraging the next generation to carry it forward – giving a contemporary expression to traditional skills.
I would like to acknowledge the role of the current leaders of the collective in inspiring the artists who are exhibiting today. Thank you Edna Pahewa, Tina Wirihana, and Ranui Ngarimu for your work and your leadership.
We wanted to mark Mana Wahine Week this year by celebrating Mâori women as leaders, creators and innovators. The women who designed and made the korowai we saw are certainly creators and innovators, and they are also leaders in their art and in their communities. They also have a well-earned and growing international reputation.
This year, there is again much to celebrate, not least the huge contribution that Maori women artists are making to our sense of what it means to be a New Zealander.
As you may know, the Labour-led government is working to build pride in our unique identity as a nation, and to celebrate the achievements and successes of all our people. That distinctive New Zealand identity rests very substantially on te ao Maori. It is what sets us apart as a nation.
As Erenora Puketapu-Hetet said Maori weaving is full of symbolism and hidden meanings, embodied with the spiritual values and beliefs of the Mâori people and that art itself is sacred and inter-related with the concepts of mauri, mana and tapu.
She said "in Maoridom, weaving is acknowledged as having its own life force, and is accorded a level of respect depending on the mana of the weaver and the qualities of the weaving process."
It is fitting to pay tribute to Erenora Puketapu-Hetet, and all of the other weavers who kept the traditional skills alive and passed them on to a new generation of weavers who have given them a contemporary flavour, mixing traditional and modern materials, and taking this art form to a new level. The skills are traditional and so are many of the themes and motifs, but the expression is modern and it is distinctly and unmistakably of this land.
Because it is primarily a women’s art form, weaving is also particularly important to the Ministry of Women’s Affairs. Woven flax is part of the Ministry’s visual identity, appearing on all its publications. Among other things it symbolises the interweaving of peoples and the strength in working closely together. The design was first widely used by the Ministry in its Action Plan for New Zealand Women – a five year whole-of-government plan that sets out to improve women’s economic independence, well-being and work-life balance.
So thank you to the generations of Maori women who carried the taonga of weaving to the present day, and thank you to the women who picked up the mantle to give new expression to traditional skills. Thank you for being such strong role models for the wahine in your iwi, hapû and the wider community.
Finally, thank you to Toi Maori for the opportunity to be associated with this wonderful event that enables us to reflect on what it is to be a New Zealander through the work of Maori women. That is what Mana Wahine Week is all about.
No reira tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa.
