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1920
Born in Te Kuiti
___________
1951
Starts teaching weaving
with her mother for
Māori Women's
Welfare League
___________
1978
Exhibits Craft
New Zealand
___________
1988
Studies collections
of Māori weaving
in America and Britain
___________
1992
Publication of
Weaving a Kakahu
___________
2000
Awarded a C.N.Z.M. in the 2000 New Year honours list
___________
2001
Awarded the
Nga Tohu a Ta Kingi Ihaka/
Sir Kingi Ihaka Award
from Te Waka Toi for her
contribution to Māori Art
___________
2002
Exhibits a korowai in
Paa Harakeke,
Waikato Musem
___________
2004
Was included in the Eternal Threads exhibition which toured the USA and Canada
___________
2005
Nga Uri o Hinetuparimaunga, contributed the blanket design in partnership with sculptor Chrisbooth, entranceway, Hamilton Gardens
___________
2006
Received Te Waka Toi Māori Art Board of Creative New Zealand premiere Award, Te Tohu Tiketike o Te Waka Toi for a Lifetime Commitment to Māori Weaving
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Diggeress Rangitutahi Te Kanawa
Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Kinohaku
Weaver
Diggeress is one of the country's most respected weavers. She has spent her life supporting this artform and has been at the forefront of the revival and promotion of different weaving styles.
Diggeress was born in 1920 to Dame Rangimarie Hetet and Taonui Hetet. Her father named her in honour of the WWI troops referred to as "Diggers".
At the age of twenty she married Tana Te Kanawa and together they raised
twelve children.
Diggeress grew up as part of a close-knit community that has continued
to treasure its traditions. This upbringing has led her to embrace
the proverb, "Puritia nga taonga a o tatou tupuna: Hold fast to the
treasures of our ancestors" which, she says, is personally signicant
to her life. Diggeress belongs to a family of significant weavers. She
took up the craft at an early age herself, learning the sophisticated
weaving techniques from her mother and other local kuia.
Diggeress and her family have played an important role in maintaining
Māori weaving traditions and, as members of the Māori Women's Welfare
League, were instrumental in their resurgence during the 1950s. Although
weaving had been maintained in some areas in New Zealand during the
19th century, many skills had been lost and there was an urgent call
for their revival. Diggeress has inspired innumerable others
by passing on her knowledge through wananga, workshops, lectures and
exhibitions. Her dedication to the maintenance of Māori fibre art led
to the publication of the book Weaving a Kakahu (1992), which is the formal
expression of a life committed to weaving.
Her work has been included in exhibitions such as Te Amokura o te Māori (1986), Rotorua National Hui (1990), Te Waka Toi: Contemporary Māori
Art from New Zealand (1992), and Paa Harakeke at the Waikato Museum
(2002). The Waikato Museum of Art and History was the venue for the exhibition Te Aho Tapu - The Sacred Thread (2004), and the Hamilton Gardens commissioned the sculpture Nga Uri o Hinetuparimaunga, a collaboration between Diggeress and contemporary sculptor Chris Booth (2005).
Diggeress was awarded a C.N.Z.M. (Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit) in the 2000 New Year honours and the
Nga Tohu a Ta Kingi Ihaka/Sir Kingi Ihaka Award
from Te Waka Toi for her
contribution to Māori Art in 2001. She also received Te Waka Toi Māori Art Board of Creative New Zealand premiere Award, Te Tohu Tiketike o Te Waka Toi for a Lifetime Commitment to Māori Weaving in 2006 and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Waikato for her dedication to keeping alive the traditions of fine weaving in 2007.
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