Collection: Karl Leonard

Te Arawa, Ngāti Awa, Ngati Raukawa, Ngāti Rangiwewehi & Ngāti Ngāraranui

Karl is one of the leading practitioners of weaving in Aotearoa. He uses traditional materials & methods like exposing flax fibers with a mussel shell & using natural dyes. He combines design elements in unconventional ways to generate a contemporary feel to his work. Raised amongst his people Ngāti Rangiwewehi & Ngāti Ngāraranui at Waiteti in Rotorua, Karl grew up around carvers & weavers. The art forms of raranga & whakairo were an integral part of daily life. He learned weaving from his mother & grandmother, the noted tohunga raranga, Ranginui Parewahawaha, who critiqued his first kete at the age of 112.

Karl lectured at Te Wānanga o Raukawa between 2001 & 2010. In 2004, he became Director of Design & Art Studies. It was here that he rekindled his passion for weaving & considered how to refine the puipui art-form beyond its ‘performance only’ function.

In 2011, he became the first man elected to the committee of the national Māori weavers collective, Te Roopu Raranga Whatu o Aotearoa. Karls works are held at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa & the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona.