By Te Kakenga Kawiti-Bishara, Taiuru News
Lower Whanganui river descendants are undertaking a significant restoration of Te Ao Hou Marae, ten minutes upriver of Whanganui City. with master carvers passing on the art of whakairo to a new generation.
The ambitious, two-year project includes the carving of pou whakairo (intricately carved poles) for the marae meeting house Te Puāwaitanga, upholding the traditional Whanganui carving style of Waka Pakoko and helping local Māori men carve a pathway to cultural wellbeing.
“At the moment we’re just keeping ourselves busy in the carving shed, upholding the vision of our space, the vision of our marae and that vision is to maintain our Whanganui carving style and our narratives,” carver Te Ururangi Rowe says.
Rowe feels a sense of pride as he contributes his skills to the construction of the poles and other aesthetic aspects of his marae.
“Being on the marae, living on the marae, flowing into the marae way of life, our whakairo here has been a big part of that.”
Senior Whanganui iwi carver Jason Paranihi has kept a keen eye on young, upcoming carvers, drawing them into a welcoming space set up on the Te Ao Hou marae grounds.
“That’s probably the most exciting part of it for me, is having young people here being able to take the bull by the horns if you like and make it happen for us, where we were just sort of followers.”
“Well now they’re leaders,” Paranihi says.
The carvers often spend hours on certain projects, which can affect financial sustainability and personal family time.
“In between we sort of do our own taonga, sort of because we’ve got to have some financial sustainability, it’s not easy being a self employed artist, but we do what we can to get by, we get help from the marae and they support us when they can,” says Rowe.
“Oh yeah that’s the normal stuff, petrol in the car, the trip over here, getting up in the morning, just like every other nine to five job.”
“But we’re nine to three, so that we can have a bit of time in the morning for our families and we can have a bit of time in the evening for our families,” Paranihi says.
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Taiuru News is a Te Tai Hauāuru regional news service, encompassing the area from Taranaki to Whanganui and Manawatū.