Te Aomania Grace-Paul

Te Aomania Grace-Paul hails from a whānau of weavers and is the 3rd generation to have reclaimed and embedded the art of Tukutuku in her day-to-day life. Te Aomania discovered her passion for Tukutuku learning from her kōkā Kohai Grace. In 2022, she began tutoring alongside Kohai in the Toi Rangatira Program at Whitireia Polytechnic.

Nearly two metres in length and over a metre in height, this Tukutuku has been made possible through whānau collaboration between Kohai Grace, Kaya Grace, Maia Grace-Paul, Te Aomania Grace-Paul, Maryjane Winiata, and Elena Rei. All of these wāhine have also been students of Kohai and her Raranga Program at Whitireia Polytechnic in Porirua.

This Tukutuku was created for an exhibition called Te Ohonga (The Awakening) held at Te Waka Huia o Ngā Taonga Tuku Iho, Wellington Museum in 2023.

Te Kara (The Colour), the first national flag of Aotearoa, which we now identify as He Whakaputanga – a symbol of the Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes of New Zealand. Historically, this flag is a symbol of Rangatiratanga. Intentionally created to instigate discussion about Te Tiriti o Waitangi and a better understanding of its purpose.