Maori weaving

The ancient craft of weaving a kakahu, a ceremonial cloak from New Zealand, has been staging a comeback since the 1950s. 

For a period of about twenty years the ceremonial cloaks of the Maori people of the islands were apparently not made because of the lack of availability of feathers used to decorate and embellish them. In 1951 the craft started to return and now there are people and groups across New Zealand making them. You can hear about one of them in the video on this page from Te Papa Tongarewa and see some examples in the links on this page. .  

A series of books has arrived for the studio library about New Zealand Maori weaving and there are books about flax growing and types of flax, different kinds of weave and Weaving a KAKAHU by Diggeress Rangituatahi Te Kanawa. The book was published in 1992 and this version is a 1994 reprint.