Northtec students adorn wharenui

Māori art and design course will culminate in adornment of NorthTec wharenui

Students on this year’s Certificate in Applied Arts – Māori Art and Design (Level 4 ) programme with NorthTec will be embarking on a powerful journey – they’ll be taught the skills needed to adorn NorthTec’s wharenui ‘Te Puna o te Matauranga’ as the culmination of their year-long course.

Tutors on the course, renowned artist Kura Te Waru-Rewiri, multi-media artist Lorraine King and carver Brian Mitchell will be providing students with exposure to a range of artistic mediums such as drawing, carving and painting and will educate them in the tikanga needed to enable them to undertake such work as painting kowhaiwhai, weaving tukutuku panels and carving the pou for the wharenui.

“This course is open to anyone with a passion for making art works,” said Kura Te Waru-Rewiri. “We believe that the programme allows people to develop their artistic skill and interest, and this combined with the very special journey of working towards adorning our wharenui will make the year a powerful experience for our students.”

Tutor Brian Mitchell was himself a student on an applied arts programme with Te Puna at NorthTec last year. Despite his extensive experience as a carver he found that he was extended and developed by the programme. “I’m a carver but I’ve learnt to do work on canvas on the course. It opened up other mediums to me. I felt really privileged to have done course. It was a priceless experience.”

Bayard Nelson was a student on last year’s level 4 certificate programme and says that the kotahitanga of his class was extraordinary. He found the experiencing of working with a talented peer group producing works with emotional, political and historical aspects inspirational. “Art, for me, has been very therapeutic.”

There are still places available on the programme which begins on 1 March. Those interested in enrolling are encouraged to come in and talk to the tutors at Te Puna.

“This is an art course that focuses on developing Māori concepts and a knowledge base,” said Te Waru-Rewiri. “All of the tutors are active practitioners who regularly exhibit.” Te Waru-Rewiri herself is also on the board of Te Waka Toi and says that she is keen to promote art programmes in the north through Te Puna o Matauranga at NorthTec. “The Certificate in Applied Arts – Māori Art and Design offers students the opportunity to be introduced to the learning room of the whare. We will explore the story of the whare and build up the kōrero of the whare through our year’s learning and the art work that we create. It has been a goal of all of us at Te Puna for a long time to adorn the whare and we are looking forward to beginning this journey with our students.”

NorthTec is the Tai Tokerau (Northland) region's largest provider of tertiary education, with campuses and learning centres in Whangarei, Kerikeri, Rāwene, Dargaville, Kaikohe and Kaitaia. NorthTec also has over 60 community-based delivery points from Coatesville in rural Rodney to Ngataki in the Far North.

ENDS

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