Rangituatahi Te Kanawa (married name Warnes) is a New Zealand textile conservator and weaver. She is affiliated with the Ngāti Maniapoto iwi.

Biography

Te Kanawa received a scholarship from the Department of Internal Affairs to train in conservation of textiles. The committee of the

Aotearoa Moananui a Kiwa Weavers Te Roopu Raranga Whatu o Aotearoa or Māori Weavers New Zealand is the New Zealand national Māori weavers’ collective, which aims to foster and preserve Māori traditional textiles. It has played an important role in facilitating the gatherin ...

were keen for Māori to be involved in the conservation of Māori textile artefacts held by museums and other cultural institutions. Her introductory training on conservation of cultural material was in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

, after which she completed a year of pre-training at the conservation unit of the National Museum in Wellington. As a prerequisite of the three-year Conservation in Cultural Materials course at Canberra University, she also had to pass sixth-form chemistry, which she did through a Wellington secondary school. The degree was followed by a six-month internship at the Textile Conservation Centre,

Hampton Court Palace Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chie ...

, and time at the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. Te Kanawa works at the

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...

(Te Papa) and specialises in the conservation of and research about Māori textiles. She has been collaborating with a GNS forensic scientist on a project called the 'Whakapapa of Paru' to identify the provenance of cloaks in Te Papa's archives. Weaving by Te Kanawa has also been collected by Te Papa. Te Kanawa is a member of the New Zealand conservators of cultural materials association. In the 2023 King's Birthday and Coronation Honours, Te Kanawa was appointed a

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

, for services to Māori art and heritage preservation.

Family

Te Kanawa is the daughter of

Diggeress Te Kanawa Diggeress Rangituatahi Te Kanawa (9 March 1920 – 30 July 2009) was a New Zealand Māori tohunga raranga (master weaver) of Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngāti Kinohaku descent. At the time of her death she was regarded as New Zealand's most renowned ...

and the granddaughter of Dame Rangimarie Hetet.

Publications

* Blair, K. & Te Kanawa, R., ''The Conservation of Māori Textiles in Aotearoa New Zealand.'' Surface Design Journal, (2020) Vol. 44 No. 4, pp. 40–44 * Hartnup, K., Huynen, L.,Te Kanawa, R., Shepherd, L.D., Millar, C.D., Lambert, D.M. & Ancient, ''DNA Recovers the Origins of Māori Feather Cloaks'' Molecular Biology and Evolution (October 2011) vol. 28 issue 10 pp. 2741–2750 *

References

External links

Film on conserving cloaks
starring Te Kanawa.
Interview with Te Kanawa
on the challenges of preserving different Māori textiles. {{DEFAULTSORT:Te Kanawa, Rangituatahi New Zealand curators Living people New Zealand Māori artists New Zealand Māori weavers Ngāti Maniapoto people Women textile artists Place of birth missing (living people) Date of birth missing (living people) New Zealand women curators Year of birth missing (living people) Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit Victoria University of Wellington alumni