Tāniko (or taaniko) is a traditional weaving technique of the Māori of

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 ...

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, although one can be used. Traditionally free hanging warps were suspended between two weaving pegs and the process involved twining downward. The traditional weaving material is

muka Muka is prepared fibre of New Zealand flax ( mi, links=yes, harakeke). Prepared primarily by scraping, pounding and washing, it is a key material in Māori traditional textiles where it is usually used in tāniko or twined weaving. In pre-Europ ...

, fibre prepared from the New Zealand flax (''Phormium tenax'') by scraping, pounding and washing. The muka fibre was dyed using

natural dye Natural dyes are dyes or colorants derived from plants, invertebrates, or minerals. The majority of natural dyes are vegetable dyes from plant sources—roots, berries, bark, leaves, and wood—and other biological sources such as fungi. Archa ...

s. There has been a resurgence of tāniko and other Māori cultural practices starting in the 1950s and as part of the broader

Māori Renaissance The Māori renaissance is the revival in fortunes of the Māori of New Zealand beginning in the 1970s. Until 1914, and possibly later, the perception of the Māori race, although dying out, was capable and worthy of saving, but only within a Europ ...

. This has led to tāniko practitioners Diggeress Te Kanawa and her mother Dame Rangimārie Hetet receiving honorary doctorates from the

University of Waikato , mottoeng = For The People , established = 1964; years ago , endowment = (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $263.6 million (31 December 2020) , chancellor = Sir Anand Satyanand, GNZM, QSO, KStJ , vice_chancellor = Neil Quigley , cit ...

. The award-winning designer, Adrienne Whitewood ( Rongowhaakata), demonstrates a new wave of Māori designers connecting customary designs and techniques with modern designs. Her work Tāniko was the Supreme Award Winner of the Cult Couture Fashion Awards in 2012.

References

Bibliography

*"Te Whatu Taaniko: Taaniko Weaving", Sidney M. Mead, 1968, , * "Weaving a Kakahu", Diggeress Te Kanawa, 1992, Bridget Williams Books Ltd, * "The Art of Maori Weaving: The Eternal Thread Te Aho Mutunga Kore", Miriama Evans and Ranui Ngarimu, 2005, Huia Publishers,

External links

Collection items featuring taaniko from the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
online book by Judy Shorten
Harakeke weaving varieties
Māori culture Weaves Māori art {{Maori-stub