Taonga Tuku Iho

OPENING EVENT: Wednesday 18 June, 5.30-7.30pm

Recent work by Esther Stone (Ngāti Porou) as part of the Matariki celebrations on Karangahape Road.  

Please note that the gallery will be closed Friday 20 June for the public holiday, but we will be open Saturday as usual 11 -3pm.

Esther Stone is an early career artist in Tāmaki Makaurau and holds a Master of Fine Arts from Whitecliffe (2024). Her practice explores the language and processes of traditional Māori weaving specialising in taniko. By collecting stories and knowledge from her hapu and whanau, her work is bonded to whenua and whakapapa, navigating the space that traditional practices occupy today's modern world.  

Stone’s work was featured recently in "Hoa Haere I te Ao" as part of "Horizons" at the Aotearoa Art Fair.  Curated by Te Ara Minhinnick, the presentation  featured works by fourteen artists of Māori descent, each contributing pieces made to be worn. These are forms of toi kept across generations  (taonga tuku iho) lived-in objects made to protect, to amplify, and to be passed on.  Her work was also featured in WANA 2025 - an exhibition curated by Chantel Matthews at Grey Place.  Works by twelve artists explored the  "rise of the human spirit" through concepts of ira tangata (human) or ira atua (superhuman) and what the human spirit of tomorrow would look like.

"As a weaver, I am interested in rediscovering iwi-specific kupu and creating taniko based objects that reflect the history and events specific to my people of Ngati Porou, on the East Coast of Aotearoa. By blending the traditional medium of muka, the fibres from harakeke the NZ flax plant (Phormium Tenax), and glass beads as a contemporary material, I explore the potential future of traditional Maori methods of making. This practice prompts me to ask, when the traditional becomes unrecognisable, and how new materials can continue to honour ancestral methods of making while expanding their potential. This journey has led me to consider not only the materials and techniques but also the deeper cultural frameworks that guide and challenge my practice."

Each piece is installed with Matai tongue and groove floor boards from the artist’s nan's house and Totara milled by her father from their farm 20+ years ago.

Taonga Tuku Iho 

Te Aho tapu has been cast
Pairs of aho, whenu, and colours 

Loop, flip, pull and tug till its tight

Around                          and  over
                     under

 again                again                 again

Until the pattern forms

I read these stories about you
and feel like i’ve walked the same paths
waded through the same waters
travelled through the same bushes

Around                          and  over
                     under

I can hear the battle cries
the fall of the maro to the ground
the thumping of warriors feet over the whenua
echoes of triumph and loss bouncing throughout the valley,

The sound of a chiefly voice
projecting out to the hapu
with the water fall behind him
and birds singing in the canopy above,

Hoe gliding through the waves
swiftly to shore before the waka sinks
heavy breaths,  then sighs of relief
items from the journey are bailed out
onto the sand in hopes of saving what’s left,

I imagine what you may have looked like
What you may have worn
Was the Kakahu covered in feathers
or was it adorned with taniko,

Around                          and  over
                     under

I descend from you,
strong
with feet planted in the whenua
Nan has relayed your stories
been a kaitiaki of your memory 

Mana and more 

Thank you for coming before us
imbuing your knowledge and skills
from wahine to wahine

From mama to pepi
carried on and passed down 

In a different form, through different hands

Around                          and  over
                     under

The pattern has emerged
the korero has been shared once more 

he taonga tuku iho