“They worked online, which meant in the middle of their studies they had to learn to adapt,” Mr Rauna said.
“We have a saying, ‘he haka koiri', which means you have to adapt to the environment in which you stand.
“No matter what challenges were being chucked our way we knew we needed to adapt and that is what the students did when they started working online.”
All the carving work was done on native rakau such as pre-fallen totara.
Rauangi tutor Johnny Moetara said the students went in with a passion for indigenous arts.
“A lot of our students found they didn't do well learning in front of a screen. Tthey would rather be in a social atmosphere where they can bounce ideas off one another — where their creative energies flow.
“It takes the three disciplines to make something like this exhibition happen.”
Raranga tutor Erin Rauna reiterated the different dynamics of online classes and working from home.
She created weaving videos she shared with the students.
The importance of teaching raranga for her was about “retaining culture and traditions and passing them on to others to keep alive”.
Like the other tutors, she encouraged her students to include their tuakiritanga (identity) in their work.
“What makes your weaving different from that of others?”
Raranga student Amanda Rutherford used a mixture of native plants to create her mahi toi, which took about 40 hours of weaving.
“I wanted to explore and showcase the traditional weaving materials that have been used.”
In her journey, she discovered how difficult it was to access materials as they were not as common as they once were.
