Title: Mo te Atua me te Kuini/For God and for Queen
“I was thinking, man I’m not doing an excellent job here, my tension needs to be way more immaculate”
“I was thinking what a taonga you were in reconnecting me to the rauemi (resources)”
“I was reminiscing about our school galas and when we had to do these (taaniko items) and aspiring to be like those tuakana who were sharp as at taaniko”
In this work I am using taaniko – a traditional Maori art form – as a tool to recall aspects of schooling at Queen Victoria School for Maori Girls.
Closed in 2003 Queen Victoria School for Maori Girls was a prominent Auckland based Anglican boarding school that produced many female leaders.This image captures my friend, an old girl of the school at the moment she recalls her first memory. The unfinished cross-stitch reveals the pattern that is being attempted in the image and the many other old girls still yet to be interviewed.
Maraea Timutimu
Maraea Timutimu 