Textiles at a Hui

Fibres on a Korowai

Feathers on a Korowai

Te Whāriki o Te Pīharau Exhibition

Ngāi  Tahu Hui-ā-Iwi 2012

All in a Blur

I save a lot of blurry photographs.

Technically they're far from perfect and most photographers would probably delete them immediately Not me. There's often something visually appealing about a partially blurred photograph - a sense of movement, a fleeting mood - and as long as the item is still recognisable, I'll often keep it. This is one example - two teenage girls that I photographed at the opening of Rapaki Marae over the hill from Christchurch, in November. A number of things appeal to me about this image - the pink korowai (cloak) [it's not often you see a pink cloak for a start]; the way the feathers have blurred (reminding me of a bird in flight); and the traditional taniko weaving and the hei tiki on the second girl's neck, in close proximity to the modern cellphone that one of them is clutching. It's a shot of it's time in that sense.

Korowai - In Detail

This is a close-up shot of the taniko weaving that borders the korowai (cloak) worn by Mark Solomon, Kaiwhakahaere Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu at the dawn opening ceremony of Te Hokinga Mai, a stunning display of Ngai Tahu taonga (treasures) now showing at Robert McDougall Gallery, Canterbury Museum, Christchurch. You can see other photographs (including cloaks) from the dawn ceremony by clicking on Te Hokinga Mai in the label line below this post. www.ngaitahu.iwi.nz

One Man, One Cloak

One of my favourite photographs from the dawn opening ceremony for Te Hokinga Mai at Robert McDougall Gallery, Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, which was held last Saturday, February 20th. The exhibition presents a stunning collection of Ngai Tahu taonga (treasures) in two exhibitions. You can see more photographs from the dawn ceremony by clicking on Te Hokinga Mai in the label line below this post. www.ngaitahu.iwi.nz

Souvenir Surprises

Christchurch. March 2009. Ajr

I photographed this replica Maori korowai (cloak) in a Christchurch souvenir shop when I was walking around the city last week. For some reason, I still find the sight of a Maori cloak in a souvenir shop window jarring and out of place somehow. I hesitate to use the words 'culturally inappropriate' for it may not be, but it does feel that way to me.