It’s been a year of tukutuku at TAP lab! Mike kicked it off in mid 2025 by designing a mini tukutuku panel to laser cut then weave. A month or so after that Keri from Whare Hau Ako came into TAP lab wanting to cut Tukutuku panels to use in community workshops. It was important to use reclaimed materials in these workshops, we were lucky to stumble upon some sheets of thin plywood at Tipping Point that were suitable for laser cutting. Keri joined up as a member and started learning to use the laser cutter.
Meanwhile Mike’s earring template was being cut and woven by other members. He got together with Keri and a few others to weave them together in TAP lab. Keri taught the significance of the different patterns and stitches.
Donna cut a batch of the earring panels to take up north to do together with her whanau. She even prepped them all by adding the hooks so everyone could focus on the stitching.
The laser cutter can only cut through thin wood so when people started wanting to make bigger panels we looked to the CNC machine. Donna has been using her smaller CNC for some time now so it wasn’t much of a jump for her to move up to the bigger one at TAP lab. Stevie helped her to cut a large panel suitable to be used outdoors.
Meanwhile boxes with small tukutuku panels were getting cut as Christmas gifts.
Mike wanted to bring tukutuku to our centre as a collaborative activity for Geek Out for Pride. With help from Stevie he cut a large panel on the CNC that had 2128 holes. Not satisfied to leave it at that, Mike also had the CNC cut grooves into the panel to echo the design of traditional tukutuku panels. After that he sanded, painted and made a temporary stand for it to go on while people worked on it. Many have commented on how beautifully made the panel that Mike created is.
On the day of Geek Out, Mike and Keri set up in the foyer with the tukutuku panel and heaps of colourful wool. Many people sat down and connected while contributing to the tukutuku. Keri made sure to collect the stories behind the designs people were weaving. When the panel goes up on display at the Te Atatu Peninsula Community Hub we will be able to include those with it.
Keri has laser cut her way through the huge stack of reclaimed plywood, making small panels for Whare Hau Ako workshops. Now that’s run out we’ll be looking for new materials to use, maybe turning to the CNC machine.