Whero O Te Rangi Bailey (1935 – 1 December 2016; also known as Poppy) was a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Māori weaver and textile artist. She was a teacher at

New Plymouth Girls' High School New Plymouth Girls' High School is a girls' state secondary school in Strandon, New Plymouth, New Zealand. The school separated from New Plymouth High School in 1914, leaving New Plymouth Boys' High School on the old site. It is currently one of ...

as well as a counsellor and a member of the

Māori Women's Welfare League The Māori Women’s Welfare League or Te Rōpū Wāhine Māori Toko I te Ora is a New Zealand welfare organisation focusing on Māori women and children. It held its first conference in Wellington in September 1951. The League's official aims ...

. Bailey was a member of

Te Roopu Raranga Whatu o Aotearoa 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 ...

. In 2000, she was awarded the Queen's Service Order. Her master weaver status was formally acknowledged when she was appointed to the Kāhui Whiritoi group of Te Roopu Raranga Whatu o Aotearoa. A large outdoor mural depicting Bailey can be found in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

Biography

Bailey was brought up in Parihaka. She was employed from 1968 to 1997 as a high school teacher with much of her career spent at the New Plymouth Girls' High School. Bailey was also a councillor for over 30 years. She was a member of the Maori Women's Welfare League and was an advocate for Māori arts, language, culture, and history, travelling New Zealand to pass on her knowledge and expertise. In June 2016 Bailey participated in the Taranaki peace

hīkoi A hīkoi is a walk or march, and especially a protest march or parade, in New Zealand. The word comes from the Māori language, and often implies a long journey taking many days or weeks. The most famous hīkoi was the 1975 Māori Land March, on ...

. Bailey died on 1 December 2016.

Art

Bailey was regarded as a master weaver with this status being formally acknowledged when she was appointed by the Te Roopu Raranga Whatu and the

New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute The New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute (NZMACI) is an indigenous traditional art school located in Rotorua New Zealand. It operates the national schools of three major Māori art forms. NZMACI opened in 1963 as a successor school to ...

to the Kāhui Whiritoi group. While a member of this group of Bailey would have hosted students to discuss weaving and encourage the development of exhibitions. She also supported and provided guidance on the strategic direction of Te Roopu Raranga Whatu and championed weaving through national institutions and international networks.

Awards and honours

In 2000, Bailey was awarded the

Companion of the Queen's Service Order The Queen's Service Order, established by royal warrant of Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the pu ...

in the

New Years Honours list The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

. A mural depicting Bailey by Canadian artist Kevin Ledo features on the Crown Plaza Hotel in Christchurch.

References

External links

Interview with Bailey
on Māori Television.
Television programme
on Bailey on TVNZ. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Whero O Te Rangi 1935 births 2016 deaths New Zealand Māori weavers New Zealand weavers 20th-century New Zealand textile artists 20th-century New Zealand women artists 21st-century New Zealand women artists 20th-century women textile artists People from Taranaki Companions of the Queen's Service Order 21st-century women textile artists 21st-century New Zealand textile artists