Matekino Lawless


Matekino Lawless is a New Zealand master weaver from Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngāti Whawhakia iwi. Her work is held at marae, in private collections, in the collections of New Zealand and international museums, and at the Headquarters of the United Nations.

Biography

Lawless was born in Te Awamutu in 1928 to Kotahi and Ena Onehi and is of Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngāti Whawhakia descent. She was raised on a farm in Parawera and began learning to weave while staying with her kuia, Kataraina Emery. While staying with Emery, Lawless observed and learned from her, as well as from her kuia of the Ngāti Pikiao tribe. Lawless was also influenced by Etera Foley, a Ngāti Pikaio weaver.
When a teenager Lawless moved to Rotorua and subsequently met her husband Jack. They would go on to have five children including Christina Wirihana, also a notable New Zealand weaver and with whom Lawless frequently collaborates.

Recognition

Lawless is a master weaver who also spends time passing on her skills and encouraging the preservation of raranga and traditional weaving in New Zealand. She collaborated with her daughter Christina Wirihana in 1996 to help create the interior of Ihenga, the meeting house at the Tangatarua marae on the Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology campus.
Lawless is part of the Te Roopu Raranga Whatu o Aotearoa. In 2014 this collective of weavers exhibited 49 tukutuku panels in Kāhui Raranga: The Art of Tukutuku at Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. These panels were installed in 2015 at the Headquarters of the United Nations in New York.
Lawless is also a member of Taumata Mareikura, a reference group of seven of New Zealand's most accomplished weavers. This group offers expert advice and cultural knowledge to the Auckland War Memorial Museum on collections and taonga held by the Museum.
She is also a founding member of Te Kāhui Whiritoi, a group that recognises the contributions individuals have made to the furtherance of the Māori art of weaving.
Lawless is a lifelong member of the Māori Women’s Welfare League. She is also involved in the Playcentre movement.

Honours and awards

In the 1999 New Year Honours, Lawless was awarded the Queen's Service Medal for public services. In 2008 Creative New Zealand recognised Lawless' lifetime contribution by awarding her the Kingi Ihaka Te Waka Toi Award. Creative New Zealand subsequently awarded Lawless the Supreme Te Waka Toi award in 2015. In 2019 the Auckland War Memorial Museum awarded Lawless with the Auckland War Memorial Museum medal and made her a Fellow of the Museum.

Exhibitions

Lawless has exhibited both nationally and internationally including: