Pip Devonshire (born 1966) is a New Zealand weaver, curator and weaving tutor. Part of the

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

(tribes) of Ngāti Te Au, Ngāti Manomano and Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga, Devonshire descends from several notable weavers. She began weaving in the 1980s and graduated from

Te Wānanga o Raukawa is a Māori wānanga (indigenous tertiary-education provider) in New Zealand, established in 1981. Based in Ōtaki, with smaller campuses in Auckland and Gisborne, the wānanga was born out of a collaborative tribal desire or experiment known ...

with a bachelor's degree of design in art in 2000. After graduation she lectured there for two decades. Her works have been exhibited in various New Zealand institutions and galleries, including in the national museum

Te Papa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. Usually known as Te Papa (Māori language, Māori for 'Waka huia, the treasure box'), it opened in 1998 after the merging of the Nation ...

. She has also curated various exhibitions and works as a curator at the Mahara Gallery in

Waikanae Waikanae (, ) is a town on the Kāpiti Coast, north of the Wellington, New Zealand. The name is a Māori language, Māori word meaning "waters" (''wai'') "of the flathead grey mullet, grey mullet". The area surrounding the town is notable fo ...

Biography

Devonshire was born in 1966. She is part of the

of Ngāti Te Au, Ngāti Manomano and Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga. Her grandmother

Rangimahora Reihana-Mete Rangimahora Reihana-Mete (née Leonard; 25 January 1899 — 29 December 1993) was a New Zealand Māori tohunga raranga (master weaver) and textile artist. She was affiliated with the Ngāti Raukawa iwi. Her artworks are held in the Museum of ...

and great-grandmother

Ranginui Parewahawaha Leonard Ranginui Parewahawaha Leonard (23 September 1872 – 29 December 1984) was a New Zealand weaver, farmer and kuia (respected elder). At the time of her death in 1984, age 112, she was the oldest woman in New Zealand, and one of the last people ...

were also weavers. She learned to weave ''kete whiri'' (woven baskets) at Paranui Marae, Himatangi, in the 1980s, and credits her grandmother for inspiring her style and techniques, including the use of unusual materials and contemporary designs. In 1994 she created ''

tukutuku Tukutuku panelling is a distinctive art form of the Māori people of New Zealand, a traditional latticework used to decorate meeting houses (wharenui). Other names are Tuitui and Arapaki. Tukutuku flank the posts around the edge of the wharenu ...

'' for Taumata o Te Rā marae and ''

kōwhaiwhai The is a spiral shape evoking a newly unfurling frond from a silver fern frond. It is an integral symbol in Māori art, carving and tattooing, where it symbolises new life, growth, strength and peace. Its shape "conveys the idea of perpet ...

'' for her whare tūpuna (ancestral house). After graduating from

with a bachelor's degree of design and art in 2000, Devonshire taught weaving there for 20 years. From 23 September to 24 December 2005 she and fellow tutor Elaine Bevan were in the United States as part of the ''Eternal Thread'' exhibition hosted by the

Hallie Ford Museum of Art The Hallie Ford Museum of Art (HFMA) is the museum of Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, United States. It is the third largest art museum in Oregon. Opened in 1998, the facility is across the street from the Oregon State Capital in downtown ...

. As part of this exhibition, they gave weaving demonstrations and were part of panel discussions and lectures. In 2020 Devonshire and Sonia Snowden were appointed as the first Ngā Aho Whenua Weavers in residence at the Toi Matarau Gallery as part of the Māoriland Film Hub in Ōtaki. During this residency Devonshire curated the exhibitions ''Te Ringa Māhorahora'' and ''Te Rōpū Wāhine Toko I Te Ora of Te Awahou''. The latter commemorated the 70 years of work of the

Māori Women's Welfare League The Māori Women’s Welfare League or Te Rōpū Wāhine Māori Toko I te Ora is a New Zealand welfare organisation focusing on Māori people, Māori women and children. It held its first conference in Wellington, New Zealand, Wellington in Sept ...

. In 2020 Devonshire also contributed to an exhibition at the Mahara Gallery in

in celebration of

Matariki In Māori culture, Matariki is the Pleiades star cluster and a celebration of its first rising in late June or early July. The rising marks the beginning of the new year in the Māori lunar calendar. Historically, Matariki was usually celebr ...

titled '' Toi Whakarākai: Ngā Aho o te Whenua'', featuring Te Wānanga o Raukawa staff and students. She has been involved with the Te Taitoa Māori o Te Awahou Trust and acted as the spokeswoman in relation to the building of a cultural and community hub

Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom is a multi-cultural, multi-purpose visitor and community hub in Foxton, New Zealand, Foxton, in the southern part of New Zealand's North Island. The facility hosts some 150,000 users annually - to visit the Māori and Dut ...

. she sells her own weaving and is a curator at

Mahara Gallery Toi Mahara is a public art gallery located in Waikanae, New Zealand. Mahara Gallery was opened in 1996. It was renovated in 2023 and renamed "Toi Mahara". The gallery houses the Field Collection. Among the collection's holdings are 24 paintings b ...

. A poi she created is held in the collection at

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Devonshire, Pip 1966 births Living people Ngāti Raukawa people New Zealand Māori weavers New Zealand weavers Academic staff of Te Wānanga o-Raukawa 21st-century New Zealand women artists