Auckland based artistic duo Lissy Cole (Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Kahu) and Rudi Robinson (Te Arawa, Ngāti Pāoa ki Tai) have begun working on the first full-sized woollen wharenui.
It's called Wharenui Harikoa, and when it's finished, will stand over four meters tall and seven meters deep.
“It will be an incredibly vibrant glowing beacon of healing for our people,” Cole says.
“And a space of real celebration and connection and, with everything going on, we just see this kaupapa as being very needed and important.
The project will see them use over 300kg of wool, as everything from the ceiling to the floor will be crocheted.
Each internal poupou (pillar) will represent a star from the Matariki star cluster, Robinson says.
“We’ll have Matariki in the middle and then Hiwaiterangi, Pōhutukawa, Waitī, Waitā, Tupuānuku, Tupuārangi, Ururangi, Waipunarangi.
“And everything is modular, so we will be able to break it down and put it back up in our different areas.”
Cole says she has always worked with fabrics but only learned how to crochet about five years ago from watching YouTube tutorials. Up until lockdown last year, the dynamic duo were passing their skills on to inmates at an Auckland prison, but for the past few months, they’ve been busy with wharenui Harikoa.
“It's a kaupapa that we have a lot of support for but we know that this is not of us, we are just the chosen hands to express this particular unique form of aroha through our wool.”
They hope to have the whare finished by Matariki 2023.