To a fine art

New series takes a close-up look at the the imagination, rigor and skill required in Māori arts practice.

- RUSSELL BROWN

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.