Tukanga: the key is right there in the name. Te Kuru Dewes’ new series is not so much a look at Māori art as into tukanga toi, the way the art is made.
Nowhere is that more explicit than in the episode featuring Nikau Hindin (Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa), who has spent the past decade restoring the practice of aute, the Māori version of tapa. The aute tree (paper mulberry), whose bark is made into cloth, was brought here in migratory waka, but struggles in New Zealand conditions. So before she could even begin processing her material, Hindin had to plant a tree and wait.
Producer and director Dewes (Te Arawa, Ngāti Porou) is Hindin’s partner, and he says Tukanga developed from him “being exposed to her work and the rigor of the artistic process and the process that she follows”. She also joined him in making it, as the series’ assistant director.
“Using her research and then actual physical learning, she was able to determine what Māori ancestors would have done,” he says. “It really is a remarkable phenomenon to witness. Certainly, Māori around the country are really fascinated by what she’s doing – and I’m included in that.
“As viewers or non-artists, we get to experience the final product, whether that be a painting, a mural, a tā moko or a public installation. But we don’t often get to see behind the scenes, which is what I’m really interested in – how things work and how they’re made. That’s a characteristic of curious people.
“So I thought, well, let’s tap into that and show people the immense value and time and knowledge and lineage that has gone into these works. Just to open up people’s perspectives about this rich, layered, in-depth history behind Māori cultural practices – and also our contemporary practices.”
Other episodes feature Raukura Turei (Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, Ngāti Pāoa, Ngā Rauru Kītahi), whose deeply layered paintings, made with natural pigments, reveal themselves only at the end of the process, and tā moko artist Graham Tipene (Ngāti Whātua, Ngāti Kahu, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Manu, Ngāti Hauā), whose story seems to be more about meaning than materials – until he produces the river stones he uses as sketchpads for his work.
“That’s one that really stuck with me,” says Dewes. “I’ve got the rock from his episode – he gifted it as a keepsake. I’ve actually got it with me right now. I thought lots of tā moko practitioners would be interested in that, because I don’t know how commonly practised it is, people practising on rocks.”
In another episode, multidisciplinary artist Graham “Mr G” Hoete (Ngāti Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāti Awa) moves between traditional wood carving and a non-traditional tool: the spray can.
Hoete is best known for his photo-realistic street murals of basketballer Steven Adams in Oklahoma and Prince in Minneapolis, but in Tukanga he reveals a different flourish: a spray technique that creates a traditional kōwhaiwhai motif. He observes of himself that he is “a bit like Māui the trickster – Māui the innovator”.
Although most artists are keen to talk about their process, Dewes says some of his subjects needed some coaching to do it on camera. There was an additional challenge to doing so. In each 15-minute episode, the artist is the only voice – and the voice speaks in subtitled te reo Māori. Expressing sophisticated ideas in te reo required some confidence of the speakers.
“We had a mātanga reo, a language expert, Hēmi Kelly (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Tahu, Ngāti Whaoa),” says Dewes. “He worked with the artists before I got in the room with them and he was able to help them find the words to describe their practice and structure some thoughts around how they would explain it. Because there are no other examples around for something like this.
“And I was aware of that. We were creating something that, as far as we’re aware, hasn’t been done before. So it was an opportunity for the artists to articulate their practice in te reo Māori – which is a big deal for them, and for me as well on camera.”
Dewes sees the series ageing well, as a record of what Māori artists are doing now, and how they’re doing it.
“This is a resource for generations of Māori artists to come, and for all New Zealanders, to get an insight into our art practices. The main thing is that the essence of it is captured from an indigenous Māori perspective.”
Tukanga begins on Whakaata Māori at 9pm on Sunday, November 2. All episodes will be available on Māori+ from November 2.
