Cath Brown (artist)

Catherine Elizabeth Brown QSM (24 October 1933 – 7 August 2004) was a New Zealand Māori tohunga raranga (master weaver), ceramicist, educator and netball coach.

As well as educating and organising, Brown was an acknowledged master weaver and artist whose work was exhibited both nationally and internationally.

[2][4] Brown then returned to Canterbury to pass on the knowledge she gained to primary and secondary school teachers.

[4] While teaching she was also learning as Brown, while travelled into local communities, encountered weavers who would be invited to participate in the weaving training being given to teachers.

[2] During that time she continued to regularly attended training courses in the North Island offered to the art and craft advisors, not just developing her own skills but also bringing that knowledge back to the teachers in her community.

[2] Brown specialised in passing on knowledge about weaving but also gained a background in teaching tukutuku and kowhaiwhai (Māori motifs and their meaning).

[4] While undertaking training courses as well as working with Māori groups as an itinerant art advisor, Brown learned from prestigious weavers from around the country including Raukura Erana Gillies, Marewa McConnell, Ngaropi White and Miriana Taylor.

Brown influenced the decoration of the new marae buildings with a mixture of traditional and modern elements.

[4][12] In 2005 after her death a community artwork was created by people who had been influenced by her each making a ceramic pātiki (flounder).