Story: Whakairo – Māori carving

Pineamine (Pine) Taiapa began carving in his home community of Tikitiki, on the East Coast, under the direction of a local elder. In 1927 he became one of the first students of the Rotorua School of Māori Arts and Crafts. He later learned the nearly extinct art of using an adze to shape a carving, and worked on almost 100 marae throughout the country. He is seen here working on a carving for the Ngāti Kahungunu meeting house at Nūhaka, which opened in 1949.