Maori weaving book award finalist

media release for immediate use: 2 June 2006

Māori weaving book award finalist

The Art of Māori Weaving – The Eternal Thread: Te Aho Mutunga Kore is a finalist in the prestigious Montana New Zealand Book Awards.

In an industry announcement today The Art of Māori Weaving – The Eternal Thread: Te Aho Mutunga Kore by Miriama Evans and Ranui Ngarimu, published by Huia Publishers is been named as a finalist in the 2006 Montana New Zealand Book Awards in the Lifestyle & Contemporary Culture Category.

The Art of Māori Weaving is lavishly illustrated with colour photographs. A number of works featured in the book are included in a Toi Māori exhibition which is currently touring internationally. The book serves as a tribute to the spiritual significance of weaving within Māori culture, to traditional and contemporary weaving practice, and to its practitioners.

The authors, Miriama Evans (Ngāti Mutunga and Ngāi Tahu) and Ranui Ngarimu (Ngāi Tahu and Ngāti Mutunga), are available for comment. Ranui Ngarimu is the former Chairperson of Te Roopuu Raranga Whatu o Aotearoa, the National Māori Weavers Collective of New Zealand. Miriama Evans was a member of the Spiral Collective who first published Keri Hulme’s The Bone People in 1983.

The Art of Māori Weaving has also been nominated for the Textile Society of America’s R.L. Shep Award for its exceptional scholarship in the field of ethnic textile traditions.

The Montana New Zealand Book Awards celebrate excellence and provide recognition for the best books published in Aotearoa New Zealand each year. The awards are administered by the Booksellers Association of New Zealand. Winners of the 2006 Montana New Zealand Book Awards will be announced on Monday 24 July.

ENDS

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