Riria Smith
New Zealand Māori weaver From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Riria Smith (23 July 1935 – 28 November 2012) was a master in traditional Māori weaving from Northland in New Zealand. She was affiliated to the iwi Ngāti Kurī and the hapū Pohutiare of Te Aupōuri.
Riria Smith | |
|---|---|
| Born | 23 July 1935 New Zealand |
| Died | 28 November 2012 (aged 77) |
| Known for | Weaving |
Biography
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Smith was born in 1935. She lived in Ahipara near Ninety Mile Beach in the north of New Zealand.[1] Smith learnt from her parents and grandparents generations the art of weaving, including collecting and caring for the plants and natural dyes used in traditional Māori textiles. Her mother was a renowned weaver although Smith was the only one of her ten siblings to follow on with it.[1][2]
Smith was one of eight weavers to be featured in the first international exhibition of contemporary weaving called Amokura o te Maori. Smith's work was exhibited alongside Nora Pikia, Te Aue Davis, Puti Hineaupounamu Rare, Diggeress Te Kanawa, Florrie Berghan, Emily Schuster and Eddie Maxwell. It opened in London and then toured Europe.[1]
Smith has works in the collection of Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, as well as in many marae her region of Northland.[3][2] One of the items at Te Papa is a sail for a waka. A group of Northland weavers studied the only existing historic sail woven by Māori, held in the British Museum,[4] and then went about recreating what they had studied.[5]
Smith's weaving technique tended towards patterning with undyed fibres, using a planned holes (kupenga) and reverse leaf approach.[1] Examples of her work are used by Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research (a New Zealand government research institution) to illustrate the weaving use of the New Zealand plant kuta or sedge (Eleocharis sphacelata).[6]
She was appointed a member of the group Kahui Whiritoi. This group is a formal acknowledgement of master weavers in Aotearoa and is decided by New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute and the management committee of Te Roopu Raranga Whatu.[7]
She died after a long illness in 2012. Her tangi (funeral) was held at Te Ohaaki Marae in Ahipara.[2]
References
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