AJ PRIME
Unaunahi Taura: AJ Prime. Photography: Dan Apiata, Top Shot Media
FEATURED: AJ Prime, Ngāti Manu
Ko Taumarere te awa
Ko Puketohunoa te pā
Ko Te Karetu te marae
Ko Ngāti Manu te hapū
Ko Pomare II te tūpuna
AJ Prime is a Māori artist and the face behind Prime Artisan Knives. He is also a taura in the Toi Ngāpuhi Unaunahi roopu, a group established to support the retention and transmission of mātauranga whakairo i Ngāpuhi-nui-tonu. Unaunahi focuses on sustaining the creative expression of Ngāpuhi culture and identity through whakairo.
He recently collaborated with Raniera McGrath and others to complete and install Ōrongo, a new pou in Kaitaia following completion of a whakairo programme with Renata Tane at NorthTech in Kerikeri.
AJ is a full time knifemaker and has established himself as one of the most reputable and skilful knife makers in the country. His love of the process is the cornerstone of his craft, often using reclaimed materials and historic techniques AJ breathes life into everything he creates.
One such project was a gyuto (Japanese styled cooking knife) made from old nails. To make this knife the nails must first be repurposed into a usable piece of steel. This is achieved using centuries-old techniques, and can take many hours for the nails to become usable steel, to then become a knife.
AJ feels that making a knife this way gives the piece whakapapa and a sense of significance. The processes required provide quite a challenge but he finds immense satisfaction in the end result. This also holds to one of his whānau values - waste-minimisation.
Through Primes' process of drawing together connection and whakapapa into his making, he has started to forge keepsakes for whānau. ‘Rerewhenua’ is a taonga that was made from railway steel and sleepers, into a knife for a whānau in memory of their father, who worked for KiwiRail. He describes this type of project as one that has significant meaning to him as it allows him to take disused items of loved ones and reincarnate them into a meaningful piece of remembrance that holds a connection to people and place.
AJ is now embarking on an extensive creative research and development project, the exploration of alternative materials in the production of traditional Māori weapons & tools, and how the weapons might have evolved through “new” technologies.
The long-term view for AJ is to re-instate the mana motuhake of the tuku iho, by connecting specialist mātauranga and creating art works in his preferred medium – Toi Rino.
To see more of AJ’s mahi you can find him on Instagram by searching Primeartisanknives or by viewing his website: www.primeartisanknives.com
