Crafting Aotearoa

* A groundbreaking book that is unique and broad in its reach, magisterial without being worthy, visually rich, backed by the expertise of the three editors and their guest writers. * Studded with contributions from expert writers and curators working in the field. * A wealth of historical images as well as new photography by Studio La Gonda. * Will appeal to a general audience with an interest in Aotearoa New Zealand and wider Moana Oceania arts and cultures, and to students, makers, writers, curators, collectors and auction houses involved with craft.

A major new history of craft that spans three centuries of making and thinking in Aotearoa New Zealand and the wider Moana (Pacific).A major new history of craft that spans three centuries of making and thinking in Aotearoa New Zealand and the wider Moana (Pacific). Paying attention to Pakeha (European New Zealanders), Maori, and island nations of the wider Moana, and old and new migrant makers and their works, this book is a history of craft understood as an idea that shifts and changes over time. At the heart of this book lie the relationships between Pakeha, Maori and wider Moana artistic practices that, at different times and for different reasons, have been described by the term craft. It tells the previously untold story of craft in Aotearoa New Zealand, so that the connections, as well as the differences and tensions, can be identified and explored. This book proposes a new idea of craft--one that acknowledges Pakeha, Maori and wider Moana histories of making, as well as diverse community perspectives towards objects and their uses and meanings.