Exploring whānau knowledge and hybridity through typographical design

Abstract

This exegesis documents and accounts for the development of a body text typeface designed by me, a hybrid practitioner. Using a practice-based approach with a focus on auto-ethnography, my research explores my own experiences of hybridity (coexisting cultures of Māori, Chinese, Pākeha) as well as my whānau knowledge focusing on the maternal line and my Grandmother. Our whakapapa, the lifeworld of my maternal Grandmother (whose parents were Māori and Chinese) in rural Pukekohe as well as our marae are key sources of discovery, inspiration and influence in the typographic design process. The resulting design gives ‘voice’ visually to this research, particularly the experiences of Māori Chinese wahine (both my Grandmother and I) in Aotearoa New Zealand.