Whawhau/To Bind
Knowledge is power. Knowledge is privilege. Knowledge is political. With knowledge comes growth and a better understanding of the society we inhabit in Aotearoa. Pre-colonial knowledge was contested throughout the 2021 SARC312/412 Furniture course at Te Herenga Waka/Victoria University of Wellington.
Whawhau means to bind together and throughout SARC 312/412, third and fourth-year furniture design students sought to bring together the inter-generational knowledge that informs Te Ao Māori, the Living Pā collaboration between Tennent Brown Architects and Te Herenga Waka/Victoria University of Wellington, and the history of Aotearoa New Zealand. They did this with the aim of designing a piece of furniture for the Living Pā that encompasses both Te Ao Māori and circular design. As a predominantly non-Māori class, this project represents the students' journey in engaging with a Māori worldview and understanding their requirement as students to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Ways in which students have interpreted the brief range from pragmatic to conceptual and so collectively, they present Whawhau/To Bind Together.
The students would like to acknowledge and thank everybody who contributed to the project, including Rhonda Thomson and Lincoln North for providing a brief; David Hakaraia for teaching the importance of design narratives; Bobby Luke for educating on whakapapa in design; Maibritt Pedersen-Zari for encouraging the use of biophilic design; Rebecca Kiddle for providing a history of colonisation in New Zealand and the continued impact this has today; Steven Almond for his understanding of circularity in design; and Natasha Perkins for her guidance, leadership and tautoko.
