With a lack of whakairo facilities in Tauranga, The Incubator Creative Hub has decided to open their own hub to further support Toi Maori in our community.

The whakairo hub was blessed and named ‘Te Whare Toi O Te Moana' last Thursday, as a part of The Incubator's Matariki celebrations launching this month.

Carver and artist Peri Kohu of Ngāi Tamarawaho gifted the hub's name, and was supportive of this initiative, being the previous lease-holder of the new whakairo space.

'This is an important initiative as there are currently no other venues offering this type of facility in Tauranga, and I believe there is a need and a desire for many of our locals and visitors to participate in and get up close and personal with Toi Whakairo where the mana is often diminished both culturally and financially through lack of understanding and value,” says Marama Mateparae, who is director of support and project development at The Incubator.
Marama says The Incubator recently applied for funding for a whakairo hub through Creative NZ but were disappointed to miss out. 'Even without knowing where we are getting the funds from we have decided to launch the hub with the aim to find funds over the next year,” says Marama.

She adds: 'Tauranga Moana is home to many esteemed Whakairo artists, many of whom have already expressed an interest in using this facility to run wānanga or as a place they could mentor students.”

Further afield

Marama says that there are whakairo courses through local schools such as Tauranga Boys' College and Te Wharekura o Mauao but little access outside of these.
'I'm often contacted by ex-students of mine who are wanting to practise and learn more whakairo but there isn't anywhere else in Tauranga they can go,” says Jo'el Komene, director of Aronui at Tauranga Boys' College.
Jo'el is happy about the development of a whakairo hub and says it will be a space 'where the public is able to view carvers working, to be able to interact with them, see the tools and processes that are used in this artform, to learn the history and stories of local iwi that are told through the carvings, and to gain a greater understanding and appreciation of this artform and Māori culture”.

Breath and growth

The hub space is also local whakairo artist Whare Thompson's studio and is where he created his piece ‘Hā' which is y on display as a part of The Incubator's Matariki exhibitions.

Experimenting with recycled wood, Whare says the piece was carved into a dining table top using a water jet cutter. Whare also installed led lighting into his carving to backlight it with different colours to give unique meanings to his work.
‘Hā' means breath and Whare says: '[The design] creates a single face and that single face is representational of two people coming together and greeting each other; and that whole process is the exchange of breath with the hongi”.

'From that breath of life comes growth, hence the kowhaiwhai design that sits behind the figure.”

Whare says it's the connection between breath and growth which ties his work to Matariki.

The whakairo exhibition runs from June 3-July 10 at The Incubator Gallery as a part of The Incubator Creative Hub's Matariki celebrations.