Wharenui Harikoa: Lissy Robinson-Cole and Rudi Robinson

Ko Wharenui Harikoa he poro whaka hakoko
Ko Uenuku tawhana ki te Rangi

Wharenui Harikoa is a refracting prism of Tūpuna inspired
light that shines across the sky like a rainbow

Over the past eight years, husband and wife duo Lissy Robinson-Cole and Rudi Robinson have been using their creative energies to explore mātauranga Māori and their personal whakapapa through crocheted sculptural forms. Wharenui Harikoa is Lissy and Rudi’s most ambitious creation to date—a full-scale, crocheted wharenui featuring vivid poupou, tekoteko, tukutuku panels and adorned pou tokomanawa. Bringing together bright, neon colours and traditional toi whakairo shapes, their mahi offers a new way of understanding the importance of joy and aroha within to aō Māori.

Wharenui Harikoa is an ongoing project which will be launched in its finished form during Matariki 2023 and will journey around Aotearoa. This exhibition at The Dowse Art Museum reveals the pieces completed to date, providing an opportunity to share in the making and Kaupapa of the wharenui, and the mātauranga that has guided the design and construction so far.