The integrity of carving
Carver Blaine Te Rito, a licensed user of the toi iho™ registered trademark, has a simple test for self-judging his work.
"There is great integrity in carving," he explains. "It is a way of recording our traditions and our kaupapa. I always try and carve in a way that if one of my tipuna were to come back today and see it they would happy with what I'm doing."
Having said that, he rejects the label of a traditional artist. "Art is always contemporary. You are adopting symbols and ideas. Something we term as traditional today, that our tipuna were doing, was probably contemporary to what their tipuna were doing. It's continually changing."
Carving is in Blaine's blood. His great-grandfather Ropitini Te Rito was one of the carvers of Te Rauhina, the original wharenui in Kihitu, Wairoa and his grandfather, Tamakirangi Te Rito was also a carver. As a carver he is what might be termed in some circles as ‘self-taught' but he is quick to tribute to kaumatua, teachers, and other artists whom he has learnt from and shared ideas with since he was given his first chisels when he was at Intermediate School
The tools were a gift from an aunt, to help him come to terms with the death of his father. He began by making small gifts for his intermediate school teachers and was encouraged in his interest in Māori culture. When he was 15, he started at Church College just out of Hamilton and it was while he was there that he was taken under the wing of an uncle Hohepa Tamihana and they formed a father/son relationship, which is still strong today. Uncle Joe also mentored his carving.
"It was very basic. I would get the chisel and he would tell me to carve something and then he would tell me if I got it right or wrong, so I learned that way. He was more informed historically and whakapapa-wise rather than in practical work but he would know if I was doing it right or wrong, and he would tell me.
"Since then I've worked with different people. Obviously each artist has their own forte and styles and we bounce ideas off one another. I'm always learning off other people. I don't think you can ever know everything."
Now he works fulltime on commissions gained largely through word of mouth.
Two years ago, he applied to become a licensed user of toi iho™, the registered trademark denoting authenticity and quality in Maori arts.
In particular, he enjoys the resources available through toi iho™ and the opportunities it gives him to link in with other artists and share ideas and information.
Blaine recently represented toi iho™ at the International Indigenous Business and Entrepreneurship Conference in New Mexico.
toi iho™ administrator Moana Davey says the conference, with its theme "Fostering Indigenous Entrepreneurship", was an ideal place to promote toi iho™ and to share ideas that will help develop international business opportunities
"There is a lot of interest in toi iho™ from indigenous people around the world," Moana says. "They like the idea of a system that artists can choose to be part of to promote their work as a guarantee that the artist is of Maori descent and that their work has been supported by their peers to be of a high standard within that cultural framework."
For Blaine, being a face for toi iho™ also gave him the chance to show the work of another toi iho™ artist, carver and moko artist Riki Manuel.
He recently spent time in Christchurch where Riki completed his full facial moko. "Ta moko is a beautiful art that is uniquely Māori around the world. I'm very open to people asking me about it."
