KONAE ARONUI

Let's be honest: it can be a scary thing selling your artwork. Even the most experienced artist can have a mini-panic attack at the thought of selling their work. I know many a seasoned artist who after years of selling their creations still have self-doubts when it comes to putting their work up for sale.

In another life, for almost a decade, I ran our family gallery at Waiwhetu and I owned Koha Gift stores in Queensgate Hutt City and North City Shopping Malls, Porirua. I have sold many an artwork on behalf of my whānau and other artists. So, while I'm not an artist, I know the signs of artist's fear and the thoughts that go through the mind of an artist when thinking about selling their work:

1. My work isn't good enough to sell
2. I'm too shy to sell my work
3. I don't know how to price my work

Just the thought of selling their artwork makes most artists terrified. Like a possum in headlights they become suddenly paralysed - unable to decide on a price, unable to...

Pictured: A mokopuna of Rangi and Erenora, Sophie Ani Owen, and her partner Dan Boyce in front of Te Kāwau Maro at the exhibition LEGACY: The Art of Rangi Hetet and Erenora Puketapu-Hetet, Dowse Art Museum 26 June - 30 October 2016.

A short but precious film from Te Ara Encyclopaedia of New Zealand

Featuring Rangimarie Hetet and grand daughter Kahu Te Kanawa weaving alongside and her daughter Diggeress Te Kanawa speaking. Erenora Puketapu-Hetet and daughter Kataraina appear briefly at the end. 

Quite often the term "korowai" is used to speak of "cloaks" The term for "cloaks" is "nga kākahu". A "korowai" is a type of cloak. A "korowai" is adorned with hukahuka (tassles) and sometimes feathers - but ALWAYS - the main adornment is hukahuka. This is a korowai.

 A Korowai I wove in 2015 for the Ako Aotearoa Awards

The Real thing vs Imitation 'korowai'

I know that I've been privileged to grow up in a family where access to the real thing has been literally everyday. I'm sorry that all whānau Māori have not had the same access to this part of our cultural heritage, knowledge and skills. It's one of the unfortunate consequences of colonisation: it became much easier to acquire machine produced fabric than to laboriously weave by hand traditional garments such as korowai. Very quickly (within just a few generations) the tradition of korowai and other kãkahu weaving, as a commonly practised skill, died out.

A Korowai is handwoven using the whatu...

This is a question that most artists, artisans and craftspeople struggle with.

Our family has grappled with this question for decades and come up with an approach that seems to work.

As a former owner of several gift shops and a gallery for more than a decade, I have my own inside know-how about pricing that I'd like to share.

But before I get to that, let me ask you: how do you price your artwork? your carving, weaving, painting, tā moko, jewellery or whatever it is you are making?

Is it an ad hoc affair:

A cousin wants a patu to give to his son turning 21. You pluck a figure out of thin air - one that's less than you'd really like but one that you think your cousin can afford (and won't criticise you for). You end up just covering your costs.

A friend admires a kete you've finished and asks "how much?" You give it to her.
Someone tells you that you'd sell heaps of your stuff at the market so you book a stall, get up with the birds, set up, sit down, wait . . . maybe...

This is a question we get asked at least once a week here at the Hetet School of Māori Art.

"My (loved one) is (graduating, getting married, retiring, etc) next month. I'd like to give them a korowai. How much please?"

Before I answer that question - write down what your guesstimate is.
You can compare your guess with my answer at the end.

Let's use the simple formula: Basic Price = Cost of Materials + Cost of Time

Cost of materials

None. Pretty much.

A truckload (literally) of flax leaves and a few bird feathers plus some dye.
Natural dyes are free. The cost of power for preparing them is nominal.
Chemical ones will cost around $100.

Cost of Time

Here's where most of the real cost sits.

Step 1: To gather and strip enough flax for one medium sized korowai requires four flax-gathering trips -  5 hours

Step 2: Prepare Muka for weaving including:

Prepare flax for extraction of muka
Extract muka
Ply fibres
Wash
Patu
Komuri.
Prep feathers
A total of 250...

Making a Stand for Māori Weaving

It's been happening for years - cheap imported baskets masquerading as 'kete'.

Now it's time to take a stand for Māori weaving and Rāranga weavers.

The baskets pictured above, are NOT Kete. These are bags made in Asia by machine and sold for less than $3 in NZ

THE Baskets pictured below ARE Kete  woven by hand using the Rāranga - Māori basketry technique.

Kete is the Māori word for carrying basket. It is not a transliteration of kit. It is a Māori word for a basket woven from plant material using the Rāranga Māori weaving technique. Other plants are also used to weave kete. These include pingao (a yellow coastal grass) and kiekie (a plant that grows in the bush at the base and on the trunks of trees).

Recently, Veranoa Hetet posted this on her Maori Weaving with Veranoa Hetet Facebook Page:

Making a Stand for Raranga

"Years ago the $2 Shop was advertising these things as 'Kete'. My mother threatened...

An interview with Māori weaver and artist Erenora Puketapu-Hetet recorded by Te Papa National Museum shortly before she succumbed to cancer in July 2006.

We are grateful for this record of her thoughts at that time.