7 minute read
DreamWeaver
from Plenty 14
INTERVIEW & PHOTOGRAPHY SARAH LANE // WORDS JENNIE MICHIE IMAGES SUPPLIED
From creating a traditional Māori pākē (rain cape) in London via internet instructions from her mother, to meeting royalty and starting her own business, Ataraiti Waretini has come a long way from her Bay of Plenty home. But as Plenty finds out she remains true to her roots.
Advertisement
PLENTY: Tell us your origin story, how did you get here?
AW: I was born and raised in Rotorua, my parents both worked at the then Māori and Arts Craft Institute and I went to Te Kura o Te Whakarewarewa where I learnt Te Reo Māori, so it was total immersion up to intermediate school. Later we moved to Auckland and thanks to my mum it was understood that I would go to university so I studied television at AUT. My first job out of uni was Marae DIY at Screentime and then I worked on a lot of programmes, for a different company called Kura Productions.
One of those was Tōku Reo, teaching Te Reo Māori using Professor John Moorfield’s Te Kākano books. We did a lot for Māori broadcasting and my last job here before I moved back over to London was Māui’s Hook which is the docudrama trying to get away from the taboo of not talking about suicide within whānau.
PLENTY: What took you to London?
AW: Ever since I was a child I have always wanted to travel and to work inTV. So I just gunned for the goal; education and get the degree. I movedto London when I was 24 and now I’m 31. And I still work in television.
PLENTY: I’ve heard about the cloak you created by getting tutored by your mum on Facebook.
AW: My friend Joylene Fenikowski was turning 50 and she looked afterme when I moved to London, which I’ve done twice, and when I wentback the second time I stayed with her for four months and she nevermade me feel unwelcome. I thought I’ve got to do something reallyamazing for you because she’s the type of person who looks aftereveryone. She would give you the shirt off her back and she doesn’thave much herself.
My mum, Maria Waretini, is a weaver so I said to her, “I would really like to do this for my friend, can you help me?” and she said, “No!” Because it’s a lot work, not just for me to put in, but it’s a lot of work for her to teach me. I was in London and she was here in New Zealand and the only way we could do it was over social media, but she finally caved in and agreed. We did a karakia (prayer) first and she took me through all the values that are outside of the actual raranga (weaving), and she said, “If you are feeling bad don’t touch it because you don’t want to put that energy into it”.
PLENTY: Where did you find the harakeke (flax) in London?
AW: My friend had a massive flax bush in his backyard that he cared for a lot; wrapped it up in winter to make sure it was warm and all that. I said I was going to come and get it and he’s like OK, as long as you are going to use it. I was there a couple of times cutting it out and I had to take it home in a taxi! When you have a really good purpose, a really good teacher, and a really good source, when it all lines up like that, then I think it’s just meant to happen.
Flax drying in Waretini’s London flat.
PLENTY: Making the pākē
AW: Mum drew everything that I had to do even down to the clothesI had to wear. She drew the harakeke, how to cut it, what to look outfor and then how to get out the muka, which are the fibers inside theflax. She said to boil it and then hang it up in your shed. Because wedon’t have sheds in London I had to find another way to dry the flax.I was so lucky it was summer. After I boiled it I had to hang it out mywindow. It looked so cool but it smelt so bad and I’ve got flatmates!So I kept the window open at night and then during the day madesure it was aired out. But once it was dry it was fine and easy towork with, not that mahi raranga is easy, not at all, it’s the weave -the putting it together, that’s the easiest part but even so, I’m workingfull time at the same time. I’m going to work, finishing about 6-7pm, ifit’s a shoot day it’s longer, then I come straight home and I’m straightinto it. Some nights I stay up till 3am and then get up in the morningand then go out and do it again. All in all it took four months.
PLENTY: What are you currently working on project-wise?
AW: I have just started my business Maru Creations and I’ve gota couple of orders to make some pākē (rain capes). I really lovecolour and there are some fabrics that bring out bright colours so Iuse those fabrics to make pākē and necklaces. I’ve just gifted oneto the American rapper Cardi B!
PLENTY: Do you make the pieces specific to the person?
AW: Yeah. I love the process of thinking aboutthe person; what they are like and even if I don’tknow them I find out a little bit about them andthen try to replicate that story in raranga art form.It’s like tā moko, it has got so much skill in it justlike a raranga. I love to tell a story with my handsbut it takes so long, and to be able to do justice tothat person with that story in the shape and formthat we can with raranga. So I think about theperson, I draw the design, then I do it up on mylaptop, because tāniko is all about maths – youhave to be good at numbers and I am not!
PLENTY: Thank goodness for computers and technology.
AW: It’s a lot of counting! And then I weave up thepiece and make sure that the finish is really goodand I get mum to check the finish just for qualitycontrol! So even then it’s a whānau thing, it neverstops being about your whānau. I do karakia andmake sure everything is protected throughout thewhole process, at the beginning and the end andduring weaving of every piece.
PLENTY: Weaving seems to be experiencing a renaissance at the moment.
AW: The whole of Te Reo Māori is postrenaissance. Tā moko is becoming “normal” andmore and more women are less afraid to havemoko kauae (female chin tattoos) on their face.You hear Te Reo a lot more now even on theNews. I think it’s all moving together and weavingis going with it as well. I follow many beautifulweavers on Instagram, and they’re all trying tofigure out different ways of working and keeping ittraditional at the same time.
PLENTY: Do you think we are in an age where the acceptance and the use of weaving seems very natural?
AW: In the supermarkets they are getting rid of plastic bags, so it’s normal to see small kete to put your food into. It’s a beautiful art form and because of the cultural significance it’s more than art to me. If you put on a tattoo that’s for life and if you weave something for someone, that’s part of your life too because you put so much energy into it.
A hongi with Prince Harry at the 2017 Hyde Park ANZAC Dawn Service.
Photo Peter Livingstone
PLENTY: Can you tell us a little bit about the London Māori Club?
AW: Ngāti Rānana London is the London Māori Club and they were established in 1958. They were a group of Māori who all got together at someone’s house initially and had kapa haka practice once a week and their Pākehā mates wanted to learn it too, so it’s a very inclusive group. Now 60 years on it’s held at NZ House, which is the NZ Embassy over in London. When I first joined I had been working in a pub in London for about a month and was feeling a bit homesick. You know when you just don’t click because the people around you don’t understand you like when you go ‘you are such an egg’ to someone. But as soon as I got into the London Māori Club it was like an instant family.
It’s such a beautiful place to be able to practice your culture because everyone is so accepting and inclusive. I was privileged to be given so many different opportunities that not even British people get; I have performed for royalty, I performed the haka with Jonah Lomu just before he passed away which was quite special. When Joseph Parker was there I did the karanga for him at his final weigh-in.
Recently one of the most special things I have been able to do is help with the opening of the Oceana Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, which holds a lot of all our taonga. Because I am Māori, because I’ve got a bit of the knowledge, not a lot because I am still young, but I’ve got some knowledge to be able to help that group welcome the people and open it up as it should and do justice to it as much as we can. So that was cool, and I got to meet Meghan again!
Earrings for Jeanine Clarkin’s runway show at London Pacific Fashion Show.
PLENTY: So Harry and Meghan and who else have you met?
AW: I did the karanga at Westminster Abbey for the Commonwealth celebrations last year and that was with the Queen, Charles, Duchess Camilla, the Duke, William and Kate, Harry and Meghan as well. I didn’t go to the performance afterwards but my friends did, and they said that Charles asked them “Who was that woman who filled the abbey with her voice?” I was so touched. It’s so nice when someone else says that about you. It’s really special to be able to represent your culture, because it’s not just your culture anymore, it’s the whole country.
PLENTY: Sheesh you are so fancy
AW: Not even fancy. Just really, really grateful, really lucky.You have to give back as much as you receive!
If you like this you'll love the other cool stuff we have in the pages of Plenty. It's all just a click away at www.plenty.co.nz
