Description
All of our HineKURA range are made with recycled bike inner tubes. Some of the inner tubes have done IronMaori, others have been on the Hauraki Rail Trail. All of them are hand made in Hauraki!
And don’t forget, we look after our HineKURA for life! If you ever need them repaired etc, just send them to the gallery with a stamped self-addressed envelope and we will take care of them for you.
Aroha Hathaway made her first pair of HineKURA about 5 years ago when she couldn’t do IronMāori anymore after being diagnosed with polymyalgia. She took all of her old innertubes to the bike shop so they could be recycled. The bike shop said, “That’s not a thing.”
So, she embarked on a new mission – to repurpose the waste she had unwittingly contributed to for many years.
The first pairs were ugly! And she had a full time job and a teenage son… which meant she couldn’t devote much time to the mission.
A few years on and she has left that old full time job and now owns the ArohArt Authentic Māori Art Gallery in Thames. She has had many versions of these earrings in the gallery, all made by different people, some even from ex-pat kiwis overseas. Now that she has more time to create, she has started refining her own offerings and the HineKURA range was born!
* Most of our coloured earrings are only coloured on ONE side because customers wanted people to see that they were made of up-cycled bike inner-tubes.
The coloured earrings use a special paint that’s good for rubber, but they will weather over time. They become more ‘vintage’ looking. The edges wear a little over time too.
We recommend not swimming or sleeping with them on.
