In 2007-8 Textile Conservation Centre, part of the University of Southampton, student Luba Nurse carried out the conservation and rehousing of a remarkable Māori cloak at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. This marked The Economic Botany Collection’s first structured engagement with a source community, both in London and in Aotearoa New Zealand. The cloak is the only surviving garment made of whole leaves of tikumu (Celmisia semicordata) and is of highly sophisticated making. It has become well-known and has received many Māori visitors. In recent years Naomi and Hamuera Aporo-Manihera have led a team in Aotearoa harvesting tikumu leaves and recreating a cloak. Supported by Kew’s Bentham-Moxon Trust, Luba, Naomi and Hamuera will be visiting Kew (and other UK collections) this September. We invite members of MEG to join us for a discussion of the project to date.

The programme will go as follows:

10:30am – 11:00am: Arrival/tea & coffee

11:00am – 1:00pm:

• Introductions from Meghan O’Blackhouse (MEG Chair) and Erin Messenger (EBC Collection Manager)
• Presentations from Luba Nurse (Head of Collection and Library, Textile Museum, St. Gallen), Naomi (Senior Leader Māori for the Our Land and Water National Science Challenge) and Hamuera Aporo-Manihera (Māori Collections Manager for the Nelson Provincial Museum).

Discussion

1:00pm – 2:30pm: Lunch at the Family Kitchen – at your own expense (price-range £10-£15) or bring your own meal.

2:30pm – 4:00pm: Viewing of Aotearoa New Zealand collections in the Economic Botany Collection (EBC) and cloak in the EBC curation room.

4:00pm onwards – Attendees can explore the gardens (which close at 7pm).

This workshop is limited to 10 attendees max and bookings will be made on a first come, first serve basis, so please contact Alba, our Events Officer to reserve your space. More information and directions will follow once your space is confirmed.