New Zealand

Glass

Contemporary studio glass practice in New Zealand extends across a range of technical disciplines, including casting, blowing, kiln-forming, bead-work, engraving and bespoke design. The...

Textiles

Textile practitioners in Aotearoa New Zealand draw upon a range of cultural traditions—indigenous, introduced and culturally cross-pollinated. Māori weaving Māori weaving, as other forms of...
Example of whakairo surface design with haehae/carved parallel ridges and pakati/notching. This is a detail of a waka huia/treasure box carved by Te Rangikapiki Fraser.

Whakairo rakau (Māori wood carving)

Whakairo (Māori wood carving) was brought over by Pacific ancestors when they migrated to New Zealand c900CE. Over the centuries, it evolved from geometric...

Māori weaving

The three main techniques used by Māori weavers are raranga, taaniko and whatu. Using these techniques to weave flora and fauna native to the...

Kākahu (Māori cloaks)

Despite having a limited range of raw materials and natural dyes, Maori weavers created a remarkable assortment of kākahu (cloaks) that ranged from prestigious...

Māori Basketry

Pre-European Aotearoa/New Zealand, a time when Māori baskets were prolific, used as containers for food storage, gathering shellfish, fern roots, ceremonial rituals, medicinal plants...

Contemporary jewellery

Contemporary studio jewellery, one of New Zealand’s most visible and significant areas of craft, is characterised by conceptual ideas frequently informed through international engagement....

Ceramics

Ceramics, one of New Zealand’s most enduring and significant crafts, is characterised today by a freedom of expression and technique. Non-functional forms predominate and...