Matekino Lawless

Matekino Lawless QSM (née Onehi, born February 1928)[1] is a New Zealand master weaver from Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngāti Whawhakia iwi. Her work is held at marae, in private collections, in the collections of New Zealand and international museums, and at the Headquarters of the United Nations.

Matekino Lawless

QSM
Born
Matekino Onehi

February 1928 (1928-02) (age 92)
Te Awamutu, New Zealand
Known forWeaving
Spouse(s)Jack Lawless
AwardsQueen's Service Medal, 1999

Kingi Ihaka Te Waka Toi Award, 2008

Te Tohu mō Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu Award, 2015

Biography

Lawless was born in Te Awamutu in 1928 to Kotahi and Ena Onehi and is of Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngāti Whawhakia descent.[2][3] She was raised on a farm in Parawera and began learning to weave while staying with her kuia, Kataraina Emery.[3] While staying with Emery, Lawless observed and learned from her, as well as from her kuia (female elders) of the Ngāti Pikiao tribe.[3] Lawless was also influenced by Etera Foley, a Ngāti Pikaio weaver.[3][4]

When a teenager Lawless moved to Rotorua and subsequently met her husband Jack.[3] They would go on to have five children including Christina Wirihana, also a notable New Zealand weaver and with whom Lawless frequently collaborates.[3][5]

Recognition
Matekino Lawless weaving

Lawless is a master weaver who also spends time passing on her skills and encouraging the preservation of raranga and traditional weaving in New Zealand.[6][7] She collaborated with her daughter Christina Wirihana in 1996 to help create the interior of Ihenga, the meeting house at the Tangatarua marae on the Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology campus.[5]

Lawless is part of the Te Roopu Raranga Whatu o Aotearoa (National Collective of Māori Weavers in New Zealand).[8] In 2014 this collective of weavers exhibited 49 tukutuku panels in Kāhui Raranga: The Art of Tukutuku at Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.[9] These panels were installed in 2015 at the Headquarters of the United Nations in New York.[8]

Lawless is also a member of Taumata Mareikura, a reference group of seven of New Zealand's most accomplished weavers.[10] This group offers expert advice and cultural knowledge to the Auckland War Memorial Museum on collections and taonga held by the Museum.[10]

She is also a founding member of Te Kāhui Whiritoi, a group that recognises the contributions individuals have made to the furtherance of the Māori art of weaving.[7]

Lawless is a lifelong member of the Māori Women’s Welfare League.[3] She is also involved in the Playcentre movement.[3]

Honours and awards

In the 1999 New Year Honours, Lawless was awarded the Queen's Service Medal for public services.[11] In 2008 Creative New Zealand recognised Lawless' lifetime contribution by awarding her the Kingi Ihaka Te Waka Toi Award.[12] Creative New Zealand subsequently awarded Lawless the Supreme Te Waka Toi award in 2015.[13][14] In 2019 the Auckland War Memorial Museum awarded Lawless with the Auckland War Memorial Museum medal and made her a Fellow of the Museum.[15]

Exhibitions

Lawless has exhibited both nationally and internationally including:

  • 2006 Toi Maori: The Eternal Thread Burke Museum[16]
  • 2014 Kāhui Raranga: The Art of Tukutuku Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa[9]
  • 2015 Whiria – Weaving Global Connections Rotorua Museum[17]
  • 2018 Whatu Manawa: Celebrating the Weaving of Matekino Lawless Tauranga Art Gallery[7][15]
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References
  1. https://www.eventfinda.co.nz/2018/whatu-manawa-celebrating-the-weaving-of-matekino-lawless/tauranga
  2. "Honouring contributions to Māori arts with 2015 Te Waka Toi Awards". www.creativenz.govt.nz. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  3. Makiha, Kelly (15 December 2015). "Beloved weaver gets supreme award". Rotorua Daily Post. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  4. Michael Hall (16 December 2015). Matekino Lawless – Supreme winner, Te Waka Toi Awards 2015 (Video). New Zealand: Creative New Zealand. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  5. Broker, David. "Kahurangi: Reflecting a journey of weaving. Matekino Lawless and Christina Hurihia Wirihana". Eyeline: Contemporary Visual Arts. 41: 46–47.
  6. "New exhibition at Te Puia Ahua Gallery celebrates weaving". Maori Television. 2 December 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  7. "Whatu Manawa: Celebrating the Weaving of Matekino Lawless". www.thebigidea.nz. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  8. AbigailH (1 July 2013). "The Morning Bulletin". www.themorningbulletin.com.au. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  9. "Kāhui Rāranga The Art of Tukutuku: New Zealand's Heart at the United Nations". www.blog.tepapa.govt.nz. 3 November 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  10. Edmunds, Na Bethany Matai; Spedding, L.A. (2018). "Untangling the threads". www.aucklandmuseum.com. Auckland War Memorial Museum. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  11. "New Year honours list 1999". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 31 December 1998. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  12. "Ngā Tohu ā Tā Kingi Ihaka | Sir Kingi Ihaka Awards recognising lifetime contribution" (PDF). www.creativenz.govt.nz. 2019. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  13. "Te Waka Toi Awards". www.creativenz.govt.nz. 2019. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  14. Waka Toi: Weaver Matekino Lawless claims supreme award (Video) (in Maori). New Zealand: Te Karere TVNZ. 29 November 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  15. Kelway, Sam (7 March 2019). "Master Māori weaver debut's first solo exhibition at tender age of 91". TVNZ. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  16. "Eternal Thread". www.burkemuseum.org. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  17. "Past Exhibitions". Rotorua Museum. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
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