Ngā Tāngata
RAU People
RAU serves its communities by embracing diverse methodologies, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, and responding to the evolving needs of our world. To be regenerative in our craft is to ensure revitalisation of textiles — culturally, materially, and socially.
Bound by the collective, RAU’s growth is shared and shaped by the researchers, staff, students, design practitioners, and industry partners who nurture this practice. RAU spans a core team of Jyoti Kalyanji, Dan Collings, Finn Godbolt, and Arielle Walker with academic staff and postgraduate students including Amanda Smith, Rachelle Moore, Rachel Carley, Leica Johnson, Greg Bennett, Jennifer Whitty, T’heniel Chetty, Eujeen Hwang, Sia Ngata, Xinhan Zhang, Callum Forbes-Day.
Research outcomes and researcher profiles can be found in
RAU Research, AUT Academics, and Tuwhera Research Repository.
Taiwhanga Rangahau Papanga
TEXTILES RESEARCH FACILITY
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DIGITAL KNIT
Shima Seiki SES122
Shima Seiki SIG123V
Shima Seiki SESWG
Shima Seiki SRY 123LP
Shima Seiki SWG041 -
MANUAL KNIT
Dubied Knit Machine X3
Dubied Knit Machine X1
Stoll JBO X1
Stoll X1 -
LINKERS
Exacta MiniLinker, 10g
Complett 1980, 10g
Kettma 1973, 8 /10g
Complett HS 14g -
FIBRE/CARDING
Ashford and Majacraft wide drum carders (30cm)
Ashford Wild Drum Carder (10cm)
Blending boards and brushes
Hand and flick carders
Woolery hackle, wool combs
Diz sticks -
SPINNING
HILO Spinning Machine
Ashford e-Spinners
Ashford Country Spinner 2
Ashford Traditional Spinning Wheel
Traditional Lazy Kates
Drop spindles -
FELTING
FeltLOOM Pro Series -
YARN
Cone winders
Cake winders
Ashford skeiner
Niddy noddies -
WEAVING
Ashford 4 shaft table loom (
Ashford 8 shaft table loom (60cm)
Ashford SampleIt rigid heddle loom (25cm)
Ashford rigid heddle loom (120cm)
Ashford weaving frames (70 x 50cm; 38 x 25cm)
Ashford warping frames and pegs -
OTHER
Tufting guns (cut, loop, and high pile)
Heavy Duty and Industrial Sewing Machines
Industrial Overlocker
Embroidery Machine
RAU’s role as a conductor of innovation includes space for researchers to visualise, materialise, rethink, and discover. The Textiles Research Facility, Taiwhanga Rangahau Papanga, in the School of Art & Design at AUT provides access to specialised technologies and software which are otherwise limited across Aotearoa. RAU draws on the extensive expertise of our researchers to support, facilitate, and advance textiles research and education through this facility.
See TEXTILE TECHNOLOGIES (above right) to view the technologies housed by the RAU facility.
TE ĀHUA O TE WHAI WĀHITANGA
Methods of Engagement
Our work is informed by themes of tuakiritanga, rau whakaaro, tikanga toi, and whakawhitinga. Our engagement with cultural practices, maker-material relationships, and place-based traditions forms a diverse yet interconnected foundation for our practice. By employing research methods spanning historical, contemporary, Western, and Indigenous approaches, we revitalise and regenerate our practice, allowing meaningful activations both within and beyond the research centre.
Collaborative and interdisciplinary knowledge drives our engagement across projects, research, and relationships. It is through reciprocal and collective knowledge, directed towards innovative and purposeful design, that we experience shared growth within the textiles industry.