TITLE: Tātai Arorangi, 2023
MATERIAL: Kōkōwai on aute. Earth pigments on New Zealand barkcloth.
SIZE: 470 mm x 150 mm

Nikau Hindin
Ngāi Tūtopo, Te Rarawa and Ngāpuhi

The niho taniwha (triangle) pattern at the base of her designs represent the star houses. Red lines divide each star house, while additional vertical lines in black, and sometimes red, indicate different stars. Knowing where stars rise on the horizon (declination) helps us find direction and locate ourselves in time and space. The vertical lines are etched with niho (tiny arrow heads), which point up if the star is rising and down when the star is setting.

Nikau Hindin is a barkcloth maker who works with aute (paper mulberry, Broussonetia papyrifera) and natural earth pigments. Nikau has spent most of the past decade dedicated to remembering and reinvigorating the practice of aute in Aotearoa. Her practice is devoted to the life cycle of the paper mulberry plant, from its growing and harvesting, to processing the inner bark and creating a fine white cloth. Working intimately with plants, Hindin aligns her practices with the maramataka, Māori Lunar Calendar. Using earth pigments, Hindin inscribes her aute pieces with design systems that come from rectilinear whatu raranga and tukutuku patterns. Nikau has exhibited nationally and internationally, and has recently returned from Japan after installing her toi aute in a traditional Japanese house for the Aichi Triennale 2022. Nikau's next exhibition is at the House of World Cultures in Berlin, where she will install 100 manu aute in their foyer.