Toi Maori Aotearoa - Maori Arts New Zealand
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Sonia Snowden
Ngāti Whatua, Ngā Puhi, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Wa
Picture
Sonia Snowden, Ngā Here o te Ao exhibition, Te Papa Tongarewa 2000. Photographed by Norm Heke
Ko Rākaumangamanga te Maunga 
Ko Rāwhiti te Marae
Ko Ipipiri Herenga Waka te Moana
Ko Taumarere te awa
Ko Ngāti Kuta te Hapū
Ko Ngāpuhi te Iwi
Ko Rāhiri te tupuna
Raised in the Waikare community of Northland, Sonia began to weave in the early 1980s and was taught the art of whāriki by Emily Schuster of Te Arawa. She also received instruction from Ramari Ropata, Erenora Puketapu-Hetet, Aromea Tahiwi and Nellie Frost in other aspects of weaving. 

Sonia says that harakeke has been a ‘friend’ for many years, transformed by her hands into the finest quality tukutuku, whāriki, kākahu and kete whakairo. Today, ‘A Sonia Snowden Kete’ is uttered like a luxury brand name and her weaving exhibited globally and held in museum collections.
As a long-serving weaving tutor at Te Wānanga o Raukawa in Ōtaki, Sonia has passed on the knowledge of te wharepora to several generations of weavers. She is widely regarded for her teaching in marae around Aotearoa, and contribution to many Māori and iwi-lead weaving projects. 

Adopted by her hometown community, Sonia was asked to lead a team of skilled weavers in 2001 to recreate the famed tukutuku panels of the Rangiātea Church in Ōtaki, which fell victim to arson in 1995. 

As a member of Te Roopu Raranga Whatu o Aotearoa and elected member of Te Kāhui Whiritoi, Sonia’s acclaimed kete whakairo featured prominently in The Eternal Thread: Te Aho Mutunga Kore, which toured museums in North America and Aotearoa between 2004-2006. 
In 2014 Sonia was also one of 60 Te Roopu Raranga Whatu o Aotearoa weavers commissioned by Dr Pita Sharples, then Minister of Māori Affairs, to create a suite of panels for the United Nations headquarters in New York, and first exhibited at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in 2015. That project was led by Christina Hurihia Wirihana, who went on to engage Sonia in the restoration of tukutuku in Hotunui, the whare whakairo at the Auckland Museum. 

More recently, Sonia’s kete whakairo featured in Te Puna Waiora: The Distinguished Weavers of Te Kāhui Whiritoi at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna Waiwhetu (2021-22).

However, there is no place like home, with Sonia contributing to group exhibitions with weavers connected to Ōtaki and the Toi Whakarākai programme at Te Wānanga o Raukawa. Recent exhibitions include Tiaho Mai at Kiwibank Paraparaumu and Te Ringa Māhorahora at Toi Matarau Gallery as the inaugural Ngā Aho Whenua weaver in residence at the Māoriland Hub. This residency allowed Sonia and fellow resident, Pip Devonshire, the opportunity to weave alongside their peers and engage with their community on a daily basis, exchanging knowledge and experience and filling each other’s kete mātauranga.
“If it’s not shared, if it’s not taught it will end up like the moa, ka ngaro."
Te Roopu Raranga Whatu o Aotearoa
Weavers National Hui History
Kahui Whiritoi
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Toi Māori aotearoa - Māori arts new zealand

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150 Featherston Street,
​Wellington Central,
Wellington 6011
Aotearoa / New Zealand​
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Picture
  • Toi Tū Toi Ora Toi Māori
    • About Us
    • Our Trustees >
      • Trevor Maxwell CBE
      • Tracey Morgan
      • Ranui Ngarimu ONZM
      • Robert Gabel
      • Tā Derek Lardelli
      • Lady Rose Gould-Lardelli
      • James George
    • Committees >
      • Carving >
        • Māori Markings Tā Moko Exhibition
      • Music >
        • Pao Pao Pao History
      • Performing Arts
      • Tā Moko
      • Tikanga
      • Visual Arts
      • Waka >
        • Waitangi Waka Pageant
        • International Waka Paddlers
      • Weaving >
        • Kete >
          • TMA Kete 15
          • TMA Kete 10 & 11
          • TMA Kete 13 & 27
          • TMA Kete 2-6
      • Writing >
        • Te Hā Kaituhi Māori 2019
        • Te Whē - Bilingual Māori literature journal launches in Te Reo heartland
    • Ngā Tangata >
      • Tai Awatea >
        • Derek Lardelli
        • Kahui Whiritoi
        • Rangi Kipa
        • Anaru Irwin
        • Namaka Kerr
        • Sonia Snowden
        • Robert Gabel
      • Tai Ahiahi >
        • Waana Morrell Davis
        • Hekenukumai Busby
        • Hirini Melbourne
        • Emily Schuster
        • Rangikawehea Sinclair Paul
        • Saana Waitai Murray
  • Toi Māori Projects
    • MAI Programme
    • Te Hono ki Aotearoa >
      • Te Hono ki Aotearoa - 10th Anniversary
    • Hinemoana Waka >
      • Hinemoana Story
      • Hinemoana Waka History
      • Hinemoana Activities and Events
    • Annual Tribal Canoe Journeys >
      • Aotearoa To Canada: A Tribal Canoe Journey
    • Toi Māori: The Eternal Thread - Te Aho Mutunga Kore >
      • The Eternal Thread Tour
      • The Art of Māori Weaving Book
  • Toi Māori Gallery
    • 2018 >
      • He Timatanga Hou - A New Beginnings Exhibition
      • Kirihou - Hohua Thompshon Solo Exhibition
      • Words Remains - Ngā kupu ka mau tonu
      • Tūārangi Exhibition
    • 2020 >
      • Ara Mai Nuku
      • Te maramatanga aoao nui
    • 2021 >
      • Atā Tū
      • Toi o Taranaki ki te Tonga
      • Ngā Poopokorua a Rua
      • Whakakai
      • Tā Derek Lardelli Tū Takawhiti - 40 year Retrospective Exhibition
    • 2022 >
      • Whiriwhiria
      • 2022 Aotearoa Art Fair
  • Contact