Veranoa Hetet: Creating Potential

The past and the future are woven closely together in these works by prominent Māori weaver Veranoa Hetet QSM (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Ati Āwa).

Veranoa is a master Māori weaver and kaiako based in Waiwhetū, Lower Hutt, who comes from a long line of prominent makers.

She first learnt the weaving techniques raranga, tāniko and whatu kakahu from her mother, the late Erenora Puketapu-Hetet, and learnt tukutuku and kowhaiwhai from her father, master carver Rangi Hetet.

In her new exhibition, Creating Potential, Veranoa explores the notion that each of her works hold the past - building from traditional methods, patterns and stories of whakapapa. But they also hold the future—the exciting potential of creating something new, using contemporary materials, colours and techniques.

Woven with a deep sense of aroha for both past and future generations, Veranoa’s weaving upholds the creative legacy of her whakapapa by “seeing what can be, working out of what was”.