Toi Ataata - Te mahi toi: from kaupapa to finished outcome
This section tests the making process: how a kaupapa becomes a resolved work, and how honestly you document the decisions, iterations and tikanga checks along the way.
From kaupapa to outcome
- State the kaupapa in one sentence: what, for whom, why, what size, what medium.
- Research at least two artist models whose approach you can name, plus one kaumātua or kaitiaki voice on tikanga.
- Develop: thumbnails, tonal studies, colour tests, and a sample or maquette before the final.
- Refine: test joins, fixings, finishes and structural strength.
- Reflect at each stage: what changed, why, and which kupu describe it.
What the record must show
Dates, captions under every image, annotated sketches, notes on tikanga decisions, and credits for every source. A diary that only shows finished work reads as a product, not a process.
Worked example
Original brief: "a tukutuku panel about our wharekai". Reasoning: nothing here can be tested - no size, pattern, audience, kōrero or consent. Rewritten: "a 900 × 600 mm tukutuku panel in harakeke and kaho for our wharekai, using poutama to reference the ascent of knowledge, made with guidance from [named kaumātua], installed on the east wall." Every element is now checkable against the final work.
Traps that cost marks
- Sketchbooks with no annotation, so the thinking is invisible.
- Copying the artist model instead of adapting its approach to your kaupapa.
- Sealing, painting or installing before the tikanga check and the blessing, if one is required.
- Unfinished edges, loose fixings or a work that cannot be displayed safely.