Spotlight: Bridging Māori Culture and Modern Design Through Taputapu Ltd

Ko Nikki Kennedy tēnei, founder of Taputapu Toi and Taputapu Toa.

Hailing from Gisborne, her iwi roots in Ngāti Porou, Te Whakatōhea, and Te Aitanga a Mahaki shape her incredible journey.

Nikki grew up feeling disconnected from her cultural roots. It was in her early twenties that she began questioning the gaps she had, wanting to discover more about her whakapapa, her roots, and her reo.

It was this haerenga to reconnecting with her reo that ultimately led her to her pakihi, Taputapu.

Nikki is passionate about Māori art and her creations breath life into authentic Māori design, reflecting our culture and language. When Nikki reconnected to Te Reo Māori and her heritage, this sparked the idea to combine her passion of design and Te Reo Māori together to form her pakihi, Taputapu.

Nothing brings Nikki more joy than walking into a space where there is Māori art.

Nikki considers her superpowers to be her boundless creativity, paired with being Māori.

Whilst working through our six month business development programme at Te Kāinga Wāhine, Nikki has set an ambitious goal of working with 100 clients in 2023 and we’ve been watching her inch closer and closer to smashing that goal each month.

In July, Nikki and her team created their largest piece of mahi yet - a Matariki installation at Sylvia Park.

It was an opportunity for the Taputapu team to celebrate and honour Matariki, whilst encompassing Mātauranga Māori, in a commercial setting.