 | NORML News: Hemp: weaving the future |
 When hemp growing is freed up in NZ, it will provide a plentiful, high quality medium for traditional weavers.
Artist couple Wiremu Wilson-Diamond and Alicia Courtney have been wowing the weaving community with their hemp rapaki (capes). Still buzzing from successful exhibitions, they talked to NORML News Summer 2003-4 about their work.
Wiremu, an Auckland university student and tutor of Maori material culture, has found hemp to be an excellent substitute for muka or flax weaving-fibre. "There are 70 kinds of flax and only 4 you can weave with," he says. Muka-producing flax is a carefully managed, sometimes scarce resource. Cotton and nylon do not possess the strength and softness of muka. Hemp does and it can be grown in bulk. "You need fibre with that elastic strength to withstand constant pulling but which is soft on the hands" says Wiremu, "besides flax, only hemp gives it."
Wiremu was taught weaving at university by master of traditional technology, Dante Bonica and he and Alicia continue Dante's kaupapa of returning ancient skills to Aotearoan communities. They see hemp as a part of this process.
They currently weave with Hungarian hemp twine from The Hempstore, but Wiremu wants to try the fine silky strands from fresh hemp, grown here. Such fine strands are rolled into thread and used for ceremonial cloak weaving.
The painted and feathered capes that Wiremu and Alicia bring to show us are serious pieces of art and technology. Wiremu paints his cloaks to dissolve the perceived boundary between "craft" and "high art." The paint he uses combines traditional Maori pigments with an old European binder made from egg white, while Alicia's capes use exotic bird feathers. Many exhibition attendees are impressed by the hemp fibre, but some are taken aback when they find out what it is. Although the pair have received criticism for using non-traditional materials, Wiremu says they are committed to applying Maori technology in the modern environment.
Before leaving, Wiremu gifts us an awesome painted hemp rapaki from his recent exhibition. This taonga already has pride of place at Auckland NORML HQ!
Wiremu and Alicia do workshops incorporating hemp in adornment making at Elam in Auckland. Contact Elam for details.
HEMP FARMING IN AOTEAROA
This summer is the third year of hemp growing in New Zealand. Around 20 farmers have been issued permits from Medsafe, the regulatory arm of the Ministry of Health. If you want to grow hemp, write to PO Box 5013 Wellington, see www.medsafe.govt.nz or contact the NZ Hemp Industries Association (www.nzhia.com) for more information.
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