TUTU FINGERS

He aha te kaupapa e Tutu’s?

Tutu Fingers is a weaving collective made up of artists Arapeta Hākura, Wai Ching Chan, Kaliyah Lima, Arihi Stevenson, Yana Sanvictores, Ziggy & Mike Raven. The collective is dedicated to the revitalization and innovation of Māori-Asia Pacific weaving practices, from where they create as a fourteen-tentacled fourteen-handed seventy-fingered entity engaging an array of materials and mediums both in customary and contemporary MATA-REALITIES.

Tutu Fingers weaves together traditional and modern worlds of Māori-Asia Pacific weaving, creating art TOI that resonate with whakapapa while embracing fresh, fun & new artistic innovations - Their work ranging from large-scale weaving to small, intricate, and intimate Tutu installations. 

The collective makes through relational practice, one that connects people on multiple levels, through whakawhanaungatanga, manaakitanga (care), kaitiakitanga (guardianship). Tutu Fingers embodies this philosophy by focusing on community through workshops and wānanga (knowledge spaces), which not only transfer the stories of the weavings and the techniques used but also explore how these can serve as spaces for intersectionality and critical thinking.

fourteen-tentacled fourteen-handed seventy-fingered entity

The collective hands simultaneously activate spaces of taonga pūoro (music, string and wind instruments), kōwhatu (stone masonry), whakairo (carving), uku and kōkōwai (ceramics and pigment). Often the collective invites specialist kai mahi toi into kaupapa to share their hands, fingers, ako and aroha.

Through activations, Tutu Fingers brings a new and old approach to collective weaving, offering audiences an immersive experience that awakens the collective manawa.

Wai Ching Chan (She/Her/They/Them) is a Tāmaki-based contemporary artist and arts programer. Her practice is often driven by collaborative relationships with other artists, and a desire to build and strengthen connections between people, including between Tangata Whenua and Tauiwi. Chan was born in Hong Kong and moved to Aotearoa in late 2012. She often works with the symbolic language of Chinese knots 中国结, forming them from a range of fibres, including harakeke and twine, to allude to bonds and connections between people and people and the land. 

Arihi Stevenson (She/Her/They/Them) is a Ringa Toi currently living and making in Tamaki Makaurau, they are of Kai tahu, Kati Mamoe, Dutch, Scottish and English descent. Her practice is driven by the desire of connection to whakapapa and is surrounded by consistent korero wānaka. This practice exists most commonly in a direct kōrero to te ao wairua as they believe in the physical and metaphysical elements of te taiao and through their art - form, manifest and nurture their atuataka.

Kaliyah Lima (She/Her/They/Them) is a contemporary artist based in Tāmaki Makarau, Aotearoa. They are of Maori, Samoan, Cook Islands Māori, and Chinese descent, and Ngāti Whanaunga, Ngāti Paoa, Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, Ngāi Te Rangi tribal decent, currently studying at Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland. Kaliyah’s creative practice explores the relationships between dance, moving image and traditional taonga pūoro and contemporary experimental sound-making. By incorporating these elements into algorithmic visual structures, they nurture spaces where these intricate practices resonate and thrive, co-existing and enhancing one another to create multi-layered experiences.

Ziggy Raven (She/Her/They/Them) is an artist based in Whangaparāoa, Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa, New Zealand. They are currently studying at Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland. Ziggy has worked as a tattoo artist for many years locally and internationally with a focus on the blasphemous, sexually explicit, queer imagery and censorship. They are drawn to people and places that exist on the fringes, dirt, sparkles, humour and ‘bad taste’.

Yana Sanvictores (She/Her/They/Them) is a Filipina contemporary artist based in Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa. She is pursuing her studies at Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland. Yana's creative practice is deeply rooted in sensitive performances, often centered on connecting with her whānau and exploring spirituality. Her work takes various forms, including moving images, photography, and sound art, striving to be grounded in an ecological and holistic mindset that embodies the principles of oneness, Manaakitanga, and Kotahitanga.

Mike Raven (He/Him) is a musician, toi whakairo, artist, and landscaper from whangaparāoa. Raven is of Ngāpuhi tribal descent, English and Scottish. Mike has been a guitarist and active musician for 33 years and currently tours Aotearoa with his band Coridian. Raven is currently a Tauira mahi whakairo under Natanahira te Pona, tohunga whakairo based at Te Roto o Toi . He is a landscaper, gardener and arborist of 27 years, he has a passion for all things involving Te Ao Māori and Te Taiao.

Araptea Hakura (They/Them/Matua/Mother) Takatāpui curator and artist based in Tāmaki Makaurau, Waihi Beach and Whaingaroa - Aotearoa, New Zealand. They are of Te Rarawa, Kahu, Te Patu Koraha, Tainui, Mahuta, Marutūāhu, Whanaunga, Ngai Te Rangi, Tohianga, Whakamarurangi, Tuirirangi, Koata, Te Wehi, Whangaparāoa, Tahinga, Motemote, Ruanui, Porou, Scottish, Croatian, and Norwegian decent.

Hākura is a weaver of stories using the poetics of adornment, objects, performance, sound art, photography, and cinema, often drawing upon various traditional art forms passed down through their whakapapa. They specialise in Māori practices such as Pao Kōwhatu, customary Māori stone adze making, and Whatu kākāhu, customary Māori garment weaving and extend to other material practices such as contemporary textiles and earth.