RENATA TANE
Unaunahi Taura: Renata Tane. Photography: Jos Wheeler
Unaunahi Taura: Renata Tane. Photography: Jos Wheeler
FEATURED: Renata Tane - Ngāti Kawa, Ngāti Rahiri, Te Matarahurahu
Ko Pouerua te maunga
Ko Owhareiti te roto
Ko Waiaruhe ki Oromahoe ki te wahapu o Waitangi te awa
Ko Ngatokimatawhaorua te waka
Ko Kawa te Rangatira
Ko Ngāti Kawa, Ngāti Rahiri, rātou ko Matarahurahu ngā hapū
Ko Oromahoe me Waitangi ngā marae
Renata is a taura within the Unaunahi roopu, a group created to support the transmission and retention of mātauranga whakairo as it pertains to Te Taitokerau and sustaining the creative expression of Ngāpuhi culture and identity through whakairo.
Being a Kaiwhakairo is everything to Renata Tane. He believes that as a kaiwhakairo you are not just a tradesman, but a historian, a keeper of whakapapa, an artist (a minor part of the process) - whakairo is your connection to the past and to everything else.
Renata Tane is the lead Kaiwhakairo at Te Pou o Manako, Te Pūkenga Northtec’s Kerikeri Campus delivering the Ngā Toi (with whakairo) programme in partnership with Ngāti Rēhia. Renata says that being a Kaiwhakairo is not a job, it is a lifestyle, something that he lives and breathes, something that sustains him. He gets withdrawals when he isn’t hitting the wood.
His biggest influence was his father, (also) Renata Tane, an acknowledged educator, Te Reo Māori advocate and founding principal of Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Kaikohe.
Renata Tane attended Oromahoe Primary and Kerikeri High School, finding the experience of mainstream education unstimulating, at this stage of his life graffiti was his preferred practice and spray paint, paper and pens his preferred medium.
After moving in and out of the carpentry trade space, he considered applying for the army until his father suggested he read a Mana Magazine which contained an application for Te Puia, Te Wānanga Whakairo Rākau o Aotearoa - Renata made a formal expression of interest and was accepted to begin in April 2006.
Renata spent three years in training to graduate in April 2009. His progress was heavily influenced by Albert Te Pou and supported by Clive Fugil, James Rickard and Tony Thompson, some of the best tutors in Aotearoa. He describes the institution as a hyperbolic time chamber of secrets, in an area of heavily carved houses, where there are whare behind every rose bush and under every tree.
Part of an intake of five tauira in 2006 Renata acknowledges that learning comes from whacking the wood, continually fixing mistakes, increasing your ability to listen, and being honest in your mahi.
In 2017 Renata began a series of work that took him to places of importance within his whakapapa, where he contributed to some outstanding new builds and infrastructure projects within Te Taitokerau, creating important whakairo for the Opua Marina Development, Bay of Islands Airport, Manea Footprints of Kupe and Parahirahi Ngāwha Whariki Trust (Ngawha Springs).
In these projects re-telling of stories and connection to Atua are important with pūrakau at the centre of the whakairo. Renata thinks that although a whare is beautifully carved, if they are without the pūrakau of the whakairo, there is no whakapapa. A house can tell you everything you need to know about a hāpu and every additional connection that they have to other hāpu’ He suggests that we have short memories, and need to make a conscious effort to make sure that the pūrakau are passed down and kept.
Moving forward Renata wants kaiwhakairo to be acknowledged as a stakeholder and collaborators throughout a build, contributing at all stages of the design and build of spaces and places of importance. He believes it would be beneficial to share knowledge with engineers and architects, to build structures that last forever.
Renata prioritises cutting the rakau, to achieve deadlines and finish jobs over creating visual diaries and instagram, but he is striving to do better in his archiving, he is also actively influencing thinking around the redevelopment of totara forests and securement of future toi resources. His latest project is contributing to the creation of Hinepāpara, an important new waka for Ngāti Rehia.
Renata Tane History of works:
Current: Hinepāpara – Waka – Ngāti Rehia
April 2020: Uenuku – Parahirahi Ngāwha Whariki Trust
April 2020: Kaharau – Parahirahi Ngāwha Whariki Trust
April 2020: Tupuna Representatives (3) – Parahirahi Ngāwha Whariki Trust:
January 2021: Tumatauenga – Manea Footprints of Kupe, Hokianga
January 2021: Tane – Manea Footprints of Kupe, Hokianga
January 2021: Rongo – Manea Footprints of Kupe, Hokianga
June 2019: Mareikura – Bay of Islands Airport, Kerikeri
June 2019: Whatukura – Bay of Islands Airport, Kerikeri
June 2019: Kahikatearoa – Bay of Islands Airport, Kerikeri
August 2017: Tawhirimatea – Opua Marina Development, Opua
August 2017: Tangaroa – Opua Marina Development, Opua
