Inside the Aotearoa House was our final second year uni project in which we designed products and/or furniture that represented the bi-cultural nature of our country, Aotearoa. I designed and made the Tāne Table, Seats and Papatūānuku Plates and Placemats.
My collection aims to celebrate the act of eating and dining in Māori and Kiwi cultures. I am imagining a world where everyone in New Zealand sits at low dining tables, as Māori traditionally used to eat sitting on the ground. The pātiki/flounder shaped plate holes represent the important Māori value of manaakitanga/hospitality. The plates are slightly sunken into the table to reference the origin of our food, Papatūānuku/Mother Earth and the Māori cooking method hangi. The plates are ceramic (though models are painted timber) to show the Kiwi/British aspect of the collection whereas the wood table and seats show the Māori people’s important connection to the forest god Tāne. Through this project I aim to show the forging of my British and Kiwi cultures - through my Mum and Dad - combined with my connection to Māori culture - through my country and my sisters.
Photos taken by Yvonne Shaw.