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Hetet School of Māori Art

OUR TEAM

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kaiarahi

HSOMA Leadership Team

Rangi Hetet
Matua & co-founder
Lillian Hetet-Owen
Director & co-founder
Veranoa Hetet
Director & co-founder 
KAIAKO

HSOMA Teachers

Veranoa Hetet
Ngati Maniapoto, Ngati Tuwharetoa, Te Atiawa

Veranoa has more than 30 years experience teaching Maori weaving in person and 8 years online.

Veranoa has taught in various tertiary institutions including Te Wananga o Raukawa, the Open Polytechnic of NZ; as well as on marae, and for Te Whānau Paneke private training establishment.

As a Māori weaver, artist and teacher, Veranoa has also demonstrated and taught throughout the world.
Wikitoria Randall
Te Atiawa

Wiki learned raranga with her sister Erenora Puketapu-Hetet in the early 1980s and went on to teach raranga for more than 30 years.

For the opening of Wainuiomata marae, Wiki was called on to supervise the weaving of the many whaariki and continued to specialise in raranga and whaariki weaving. 

Wiki and her husband Sonny, established a training programme for youth and long term unemployed in Wainuiomata where she taught weaving until recently.
LILLIAN HETET OWEN
Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Tuwharetoa, TeAtiawa

As the website creator for the Hetet School of Māori Art, Lillian has spent the past 8 years 
working to develop the online learning environment for students enrolled with us.

Lillian has more than 20 years of art focused business  experience. Coupled with her work in website development and online marketing, she now consults with creative entrepreneurs to help them bring their business visions online.

Lillian teaches our business course for artists.


KAIMANAAKI

HSOMA Student Representatives

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Tracy Maniapoto

Tracy is based in Tamaki Makaurau and is currently studying toward a PhD.
Since joining HSOMA as a beginner weaver, Tracy has gone on to exhibit and sell her weaving. She has also completed the HSOMA business course and developed a range of jewellery under her own design label: tracymaniapoto.com

Penney Cameron

Penney is a retired teacher based in the Waikato. Since joining HSOMA as a beginner, Penney has woven several commissioned artworks. Her love of harakeke led her to partner with the Hamilton City Council to create a Pa Harakeke (from her own collection of rare cultivars) for weavers across the Waikato to access.

Manaia Carswell

Based in the Wairarapa, Manaia is a busy mama who weaves between caring for her family and their lifestyle block. Since joining HSOMA as a beginner weaver, Manaia has completed five modules of The Matrix® including a korowai muka. Manaia now demonstrates, exhibits and sells her weaving on commission along with her kawakawa balms.

Ripeka Meredith

Already an experienced piupiu weaver when she joined HSOMA, Ripeka has gone on to extend her raranga, taaniko and kākahu skills with us.From the far north, and living in Paihia, Ripeka weaves on commission. In between her work and her weaving Ripeka nurtures the creative interests of other aspiring artists in her rohe.

Demelza Craig

Demelza, a busy mama of six, showed such promise as a beginner weaver that she was awarded the first ever HSOMA scholarship to learn with us. Demelza has since gone on to exhibit and sell her exquisitely woven kete and pikau on commission as well as undertake a museum internship at Te Papa.

Soraya McConachy

Based in the South Island, Soraya joined the Hetet School of Māori Art to extend her raranga skills. She now weaves kete whakairo and kākahu on commission and is developing a business around her love of weaving and photography. 
Soraya's images feature throughout our website. 

Rebecca Small

Rebecca grew up in Aotearoa but joined us from London as a beginner and now exhibits and sells her beautiful kete. Rebecca found her first harakeke to weave with in an inner city park in London.  Rebecca's experience learning from the other side of the world, inspires those joining us from afar.

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