Whakairo by Kade Cowper, carved from a single trunk. A rider, masked below the eyes, holds a bull by both horns: one horn becomes an octopus tentacle inlaid with pāua that enters the rider, the other becomes a manu clasped in three fingers, its wing becoming the moko on the rider's forehead. The rider's other hand holds a toki, and the bull bows down onto its hooves.

Oue, South Hokianga

Made to be held.

Whakairo, raranga and tukutuku, carved and woven by hand in the South Hokianga. Every piece is one of a kind, and every piece comes with its record.

See the work Commission a piece

The forms

Whakairo by Kade Cowper: a carved face in profile with a pāua eye, its moko cut deep and picked out in red.

Whakairo

Carving
Raranga by Kade Cowper: an open-weave form trailing loose strands, lit against black.

Raranga

Weaving

The work

Pūtātara by Kade Cowper: a shell trumpet seen into its bell, the lip frilled and white feathers hanging below.

Pūtātara

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Taonga pūoro · Shell
Tewhatewha by Kade Cowper, held upright in a hand: a figured timber head, with a braided cord and feather tuft.

Tewhatewha

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Whakairo · Mānuka

With every piece

The piece and its record travel together.

  1. The rākau

    What it is cut from and where that timber came from.

  2. The kōrero

    What the piece is, and the story it carries.

  3. Kept on record

    Sold work is never taken down. It moves to Kua riro with its record intact.

Pou Marama: a row of tall engraved acrylic pou, lit from the side in red and blue so the engraved designs glow, reflected in a dark floor.
Pou Marama, for ĀKAU’s Toi Mārama. Designed by the tamariki of three Northland kura, built by Aka Whiro. Engraved acrylic, side lit. Photo: Allan Carpenter.

Commissions

Something made for a place, a person or a people.

A commission starts with a kōrero about what the piece is for and where it will stand. You can see where it is at every stage, and it comes to you with its record.

How commissions work