Veranoa Angelique Hetet (born 1966) is a New Zealand Māori weaver and contemporary artist of Te Atiawa,

Ngāti Tuwharetoa Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori culture, Māori society. In Māori-language, Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and ...

and

Ngāti Maniapoto Ngāti Maniapoto is an iwi (tribe) based in the Waikato-Waitomo region of New Zealand's North Island. It is part of the Tainui confederation, the members of which trace their whakapapa (genealogy) back to people who arrived in New Zealand on the ...

descent.

Biography

Hetet was born in 1966 in Waiwhetū, Lower Hutt. She was taught how to weave her first

kete KETE (99.7 FM; "Three Angels Broadcasting Network") is a terrestrial radio station, licensed to Sulphur Bluff, Texas, United States, and owned by Brazos TV, Inc. KETE broadcasts a Christian preaching format, featuring programming from the Thre ...

when she was 13 years old by her mother

Erenora Puketapu-Hetet Erenora Puketapu-Hetet (née Puketapu, 28 January 1941 – 23 July 2006) was a noted New Zealand weaver and author. A key figure in the Māori cultural renaissance, she helped change perceptions of Māori weaving/raranga from craft to int ...

. Her mother went on to teach her weaving techniques in raranga,

tāniko Tāniko (or taaniko) is a traditional weaving technique of the Māori of New Zealand related to "twining". It may also refer to the resulting bands of weaving, or to the traditional designs. The tāniko technique does not require a loom, altho ...

and whatu kakahu, and from her father she learnt

tukutuku Tukutuku panelling is a distinctive art form of the Māori people of New Zealand, a traditional latticework used to decorate meeting houses (wharenui). Other names are tuitui and arapaki. Tukutuku flank the posts around the edge of the wharenui ...

and

kowhaiwhai The ''koru'' () is a spiral shape based on the appearance of a new unfurling silver fern frond. It is an integral symbol in Māori art, carving and tattooing, where it symbolises new life, growth, strength and peace. Its shape "conveys the id ...

from her father, master carver Rangi Hetet. Several generations of the Hetet family have been practitioners and teachers of

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

weaving techniques, ever since Rangimārie Hetet composed a waiata asking her descendants to uphold these traditions. Since 1996 Hetet has taught weaving at tertiary institutions such as Te Wananga o Raukawa,

Wellington Polytechnic Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...

, Te Whanau Paneke, and

The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand or Open Polytechnic (Māori: Kuratini Tuwhera) is a government-owned tertiary education institution operating as the specialist national provider of open and distance learning (ODL). On 1 April 2020, The Open Po ...

. She is based in

Waiwhetū Waiwhetū is an eastern suburb of Lower Hutt in the Wellington Region situated in the south of the North Island of New Zealand. In the 19th-century period of European settlement it was worked by Irish-born Alfred Ludlam, who was a member of thr ...

, Lower Hutt, where she teaches weaving online at the Hetet School of Māori Art started by her parents. In 2012 Hetet and her group of weavers Te Roopu Mīro were weavers in residence for the exhibition ''Kahu Ora'' 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 ...

. In a previous discussion with Awhina Tamarapa, the curator of ''Kuhu Ora'', Hetet describes her passion for learning, 'Every time you learn a technique, it opens up the possibilities even more. So the more you’re exposed to, the more possibilities there are for creating things'. Waiwhetu Marae including te waharoa

Hetet has received funding from

Creative New Zealand The Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa (Creative New Zealand) is the national arts development agency of the New Zealand government, investing in artists and arts organisations, offering capability building programmes and developing markets ...

for the development of new works and travel. In 2014 she received a substantial arts grant to produce works for an exhibition at

The Dowse Art Museum The Dowse Art Museum is a municipal art gallery in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. Opening in 1971 in the Lower Hutt CBD, The Dowse occupies a stand-alone building adjacent to other municipal facilities. The building was completely remodelled in 2 ...

. She has exhibited and travelled widely, including a 2014 one-month residency on

St Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...

, researching and teaching about extracting muka from the flax which has grown on the island since the mid-1900s. The Waiwhetū Marae has a close association with the Hetet family and the meeting house Aroha ki te Tangata includes art work by Veranoa Hetet as well as her mother and father.

Honours and awards

In the

2020 New Year Honours The 2020 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebration ...

, Hetet was awarded the

Queen's Service Medal The Queen's Service Medal is a medal awarded by the government of New Zealand to recognise and reward volunteer service to the community and also public service in elected or appointed public office. It was established in 1975 and is related to ...

, for services to Māori art.

Exhibitions

Her work has been exhibited at The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, The Dowse Art Museum,

City Gallery Wellington City Gallery Te Whare Toi is a public art gallery in Wellington, New Zealand. History City Gallery Te Whare Toi began its life as the Wellington City Art Gallery on 23 September 1980 in a former office block located at 65 Victoria Street, now ...

Waikato Museum Waikato Museum ( mi, Te Whare Taonga o Waikato) is a regional museum located in Hamilton, New Zealand. The museum manages ArtsPost, a shop and gallery space for New Zealand art and design. Both are managed by the Hamilton City Council. Outside ...

and

Puke Ariki Puke Ariki is a combined museum and library at New Plymouth, New Zealand which opened in June 2003. It is an amalgamation of the New Plymouth Public Library (founded in 1848) and the Taranaki Museum (founded in 1919). Its name, Māori for "hill ...

. * ''Kahu Ora'' (2012),

. * ''Veranoa Hetet: Creating Potential'' (10 Oct 2020 – 28 Feb 2021), The Dowse Art Museum

Family

Hetet’s mother was master weaver

. Hetet's father is master carver Rangi Hetet. She attributes her knowledge of Māori arts to her upbringing and family. Her great-grandmother was Dame Rangimārie Hetet and her great aunt was Diggeress Te Kanawa. Hetet is married to carver Sam Hauwaho. They have five children.

References

External links

Discussion at ''Call of Taranaki'' Puke ArikiThe artists's public Facebook page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hetet, Veranoa Puketapu 1966 births Living people New Zealand artists New Zealand Māori weavers New Zealand Māori artists Te Āti Awa people Ngāti Tūwharetoa people Ngāti Maniapoto people Atkinson–Hursthouse–Richmond family Women textile artists Recipients of the Queen's Service Medal