Kahu Aute: Tāwhai - An Exploration of Whakapapa and Process
by kiriaute, Thies Vaihu

28 Feb - 21 Mar 2026
Opening 28 Feb 11am (all welcome)
64 Rosebank Road Avondale
@thi_vaihu

Thi Vaihu (Ngāpuhi, Ngati Whatua Ki Kaipara, Tonga)
is a kiriaute, or Maori barkcloth practitioner. Vaihu grows, harvests and processes aute from Te Henga, Bethells beach. Thi’s work is an ode to process and seeks to expand connections to community, te kore and whakapapa.

Kahu Aute: Tāwhai is a show celebrating whakapapa through the re remembering of traditional techniques of maintaining pa aute as well as aute, muka and paru dye processing. The Kahu Aute, named Tāwhai after Thi’s tupuna, Mohi Tawhai, is an ode to her lineage and explores the ways that engaging in these traditional methods of production collapse time, tapping into Te Kore with guidance from both our tupuna and mokopuna.

There will also be an Aute beating wananga on Saturday 21 March 2026. More details to be shared soon.

Thies Vaihu (Ngāpuhi, Tainui, Ngati Whaua Ki Kaipara,
Tonga) is a kiriaute (Maori barkcloth practitioner) based in Te Henga, Tāmaki Makaurau and taught by Atarangi Anderson for the last five years. Thies has gone on to further research in cultivation of pã aute, contributing to the re-remembering of this practise within Aotearoa. As well as this, Thies has explored the nuance of aute within Aotearoa’s natural dyeing processes. Thies’s work is an ode to process and seeks to expand connections to community, te kore and whakapapa.

🤎Nō mātou te whiwhi hei pupuri i tēnei mahitoi🤎