He Toi Whakairo at Te Papa: 700 years of Māori carving in one exhibition

# What the exhibition is

# How the story is told

The exhibition is chronological. It begins with early carved works and follows through to the 19th-century technical revolution brought by steel whao (chisels) and on to contemporary carving practice. On the way it reproduces the sensations associated with whakairo — ihi (power), wehi (awe/fear), and wana (authority) — concepts defined in Te Māori catalogue essays by Sir Hirini Moko Mead.

# Historical highlights

The show revisits territory covered by the landmark Te Māori touring exhibition of 1984, which boosted global attention for Māori carving and helped spawn the cultural shift that led to the creation of Te Papa. He Toi Whakairo continues that investigation and extends it forward in time, placing transitional 19th- and early 20th-century work alongside contemporary practice.

Notable historical carvers represented include Ngāti Tarāwhai makers such as Wero Tāroi (c.1820–1880), Ānaha Te Rahui (1822–1913), and Tene Waitere (1853–1931). Tene Waitere's 1899 Tā Moko panel is cited as an example of simultaneous engagement with European sculptural ideas and traditional moko and iconography.

# Technical change and its effects

The mid-19th-century adoption of steel whao altered whakairo technique: metal tools allowed carvers to work faster, cut deeper, and create larger-scale whare whakairo (carved meeting houses). That change supported the growth of visible marae architecture across the country and affected the scale and ambition of carving projects.

# Contemporary practice

The exhibition includes 21st-century taonga by living carvers such as Lyonel Grant (Ngāti Pikiao, Te Arawa), Rangi Kipa (Te Ātiawa, Taranaki, Ngāti Tama ki te Tauihu), Stacy Gordine (Ngāti Porou), Ngaroma Riley (Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri), and Clive Fugill (whose 2001 Hoe urunga paddle is in the show). Curators draw attention to emerging directions including increased participation by wāhine Māori carvers and new kaupapa within whakairo.

# Curatorial framing and significance

Co-curators Jana Pātete and Dougal Austin selected objects to demonstrate both continuity and innovation. The exhibition is presented as an assertion of curatorial leadership at Te Papa, and as a deep, object-based account of rangatiratanga and mana tangata expressed through carved forms.

# Thematic through-lines

He Toi Whakairo foregrounds the relationship between material change (tools, scale) and cultural meaning (mana, tribal identity, taonga tuku iho). It connects the exhibition lineage of Te Māori to present-day carving and shows how carved objects operate as both artistic works and repositories of social and political status.

# Visitor experience

# Conclusion

He Toi Whakairo maps 700 years of whakairo in a single survey. It balances historical depth with contemporary voices and positions Te Papa as a centre for telling Aotearoa's carved-object histories through carefully selected taonga.