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Artist Profiles

Clive Fugill, Master Carver

Our master carver reveals how a teacher must also be student.

Edna Pahewa, Expert Weaver

Our expert weaver shares a very personal part of her story.

Shannon Wafer, Student Carver

The student carver who uses his hands to follow his heart.

Like the pictures of a book, arts and crafts are the pages of the Maori culture. It’s how stories were told and passed down through generations; how traditions and genealogy were preserved. History was carved and woven.

For 38 years, students from tribes across New Zealand have converged on the New Zealand Maori Arts & Crafts Institute (NZMACI) at Te Puia to learn traditions in danger of being lost forever.

“If you forget your ancestors, you too are forgotten”

So significant was the threat, an Act of Parliament was passed in 1963 to ensure the ancient arts and crafts would never be forgotten. That Act set up the schools of NZMACI.

Carving School

In 1967, the first intake to the carving school, Te Wananga Whakairo, began the task of learning and retrieving the disciplines of ancestors.

Among those students was Clive Fugill, the man who would become master carver of the institute today.

“I’ll never forget that first day. Our master carver, Hone Taiapa, looked at us all and said “You are here to learn the art to pass it on to generations. Keep it alive for we could lose our identity,” says Clive.

“It was the concept of it all, the idea that we were playing such an important role to save Maori art. Everyone has a reason in life. This was my reason.”

Today, 12 fulltime students study for three years at the carving school, under the guidance of those who were once institute students themselves.

Visitors are welcome to visit the school to watch and talk with carvers.

Weaving School

At Te Rito, the weaving school, Maori young and old are taught hands on in a craft centuries old.

Like the carving school, Te Rito thrives and not only through the dedication of staff and students. Tourism revenue contributes to the schools’ continued existence and visitors are more than welcome to view the practical training.

From the wood shavings of the carving workshop and the woven mats of the weaving school, students are happy to share the stories of their work, their ancestors and their lives. History is not only being retained. New pages are being written.

Sacred meeting houses across New Zealand have been restored. Carvings and woven art are requested by major overseas exhibitions. Most of all, the ancient teachings continue.

“I believe weaving can only be learnt the old way, by sitting, by listening, by touching and by doing,” says head weaver, Edna Pahewa.

“There is no certificate at the end. To us, that is a piece of paper. Your diploma is the work you do. As long as you complete from start to finish and put your heart into it, your diploma is the work you have created.”

From planting by the moon to the prayers of thanks for the flax and trees they use, from designs unique to each tribe to the story of a particular ancestor, students learn every aspect of their craft.

The weaving school, Te Rito, for example, is named after the baby shoot sitting deep at the heart of the flax.

That baby is protected by two outside stems, the mother and father. When cutting the flax , students learn never to touch the inner three. They are the nucleus, the family unit too precious to be broken. Without them, the flax will lose its identity.

“That’s why I’m still here after 38 years. If we lose our arts and crafts we lose our identity,” says Clive.

“I don’t know it all. I’ll never know it all. But I will pass on what I can to all my students, not just the clever ones. Everyone has a right to learn their history, their place. To me, a good teacher will bring the one who is struggling up to the level of the very best student. That’s a good teacher.”

It is an absolute and fundamental belief of the institute that for the arts and crafts to survive, for the culture to survive, the knowledge must be shared.

“I give this knowledge freely. I give it to you for nothing. Do the same when your time comes to teach.”