The Story of Harakeke Kete

My work is inspired by New Zealand's landscape and our native flora and fauna. I am interested in the multitude of uses that the indigenous peoples of New Zealand, the Maori, had for all the plants. The flax bush, or "Harakeke" in Maori, has been used for clothing, matting, ropes, nets, baskets (kete) and numerous other things.

In this artwork I have told the story about making a basket (kete). Traditionally, the outer leaves are used to weave a basket, the reason being that the outer leaves represent the grandparents, while the inner leaves represent the net generations. The children and grandchildren are in the centre where they are protected. On the left of the print is the flower stalk (kokari) with dried flax flowers. The stalks are used as floats or rafts and the flax flowers are used to sweeten drinks.