PLACES AND THINGS

Te Ao Hou, September 1960, Page 62

PLACES AND THINGS A Rotorua carpenter and Maori carver, Mr Hone Te Kauru Taiapa was made a member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in the Queen's Birthday Honours. The father of six children, the eldest two married and the youngest aged nine years, Mr Taiapa has lived in Rotorua for 19 years. While working on his many splendid meeting houses—he and his brother Pine have worked on over 40 of them—Hone Taiapa has trained hundreds of carvers. The two brothers have been most prolific producers of carvers. The two brothers have been most prolific producers of carved houses during the last 30 years. Born at Tikitiki on the East Coast in 1912, Hone Taiapa has been carving since he was a boy. One of his more recent works was the meeting-house in Waihi, and in Rotorua, he was responsible for the beautiful carving in the Rotorua Boys' High School Assembly Hall. At present, he is working on the Cathedral in Napier. ⋆ ⋆ ⋆