Te Atiwei Ririnui

TE ATIWEI RIRINUI

Te Atiwei Ririnui is an emerging artist of Maori descent (Ngai Te Rangi, Ngati Ranginui) living in the Bay of Islands in the Far North of Aotearoa-New Zealand.

He is one of the few young male weavers in Aotearoa weaving full time.

Te Atiwei has a strong passion for Maori weaving - in fact, he can't remember not being interested in raranga. He started out learning splicing and plaiting ropes well before his eigth birthday learning from a kaumatua of his iwi who was highly skilled in the art of traditional net-making. He is now dedicated to keeping the ancient traditions of weaving alive.

"I was inspired by the weaving. Because it felt like a part of me, I wanted to learn how to do it", Te Atiwei says. A key step along the way was meeting Hemoata Henare, a weaver based in Moerewa, who taught him basic weaving skills.

The first kete Te Atiwei wove was a pipi bag when he was about 13. It was never used to collect pipi (a small shellfish), but left in the North as a symbol to mark the start of his journey as a weaver. He went from a pipi bag to a kete whakairo. For the first three years he worked only with the natural colour of the harekeke. Now he uses various colours and contemporary as well as traditional materials.

Te Atiwei says that weaving experience has been developed through observing and learning from others. He combines this observation with his own knowledge of weaving methods and techiques in his finished works.

CUSTOM TOURS

Navigator Tours is delighted to arrange custom tours to include visits to Te Atiwei's studio and those of other leading Maori artists. Contact us for details

Purchases and commissions:

Te Atiwei typically has a range of pieces for sale. He can be contacted at: t.ririnui@clear.net

Accredited artists:

Te Atiwei is an accredited Toi Iho artist.

Click here for more details about Toi Iho