Lesson Content

1. Meet Nikau Hindin

   Nikau Hindin is a contemporary Māori artist, who, through her work ‘Te Uru Aute’, extends her long-term project to ‘reawaken’ the process of making aute, Māori tapa cloth. Aute (‘paper mulberry’) was brought to Aotearoa from Hawaiki by ancestress Whakaotirangi of Te Arawa waka. Over centuries, the production of aute cloth did not endure. 

   According to O’Riley, 2020, it became Hindin’s mission to relearn this practice after she was influenced by the revitalisation of celestial navigation and her involvement with waka haurua throughout Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa (the Pacific Ocean). This ancient knowledge is reflected in the aute she makes, depending on the same precision required for navigation.

   

   Nikau Hindin, Te Uru Aute, 2019

2. Hindin uses the star compass to inform the marks she creates with awe (originating from soot) and earthen pigments. Hindin’s work becomes even more amazing as they function as maps, with lines expressing the positions of stars rising on the horizon. These are not only spatial but also temporal, helping her to remember the decline of stars and the way the night sky shifts throughout the seasons. 

   Hindin’s work significantly strives to transmit knowledge to a new generation of aute-makers. She can be found using Instagram (Nikau Hindin (@nikaugabrielle) • Instagram photos and videos) to connect with an international network expanding from Indonesia to Hawaiʻi. According to the Art Fair, Hindin will be present at the Art Fair most days, transmitting her knowledge to others.

   

   Nikau Hindin standing with unmarked aute

Nikau Hindin: Kōkōrangi ki Kōkōwai

1. 

   Nikau Hindin, Kōkōrangi ki Kōkōwai at the Dowse, 2020

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