The World of Jade - International Cultural Exchange Program
In 2014, Niki Nepia (Owner/operator of Puawai Jade) had the opportunity to spend 6 months in China training under highly skilled Jade master carvers. During these months Niki gained a tremendous amount of knowledge and learned a range of new carving techniques, such as bowl and vase forming. The Masters also taught him how to 'read' a piece of jade (pounamu), how to analyze it and incorporate its beauty, features and flaws into a unique piece of art "taonga".
Below you can see pieces made by Niki during the cultural exchange to exhibit his learnings and new skill.
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7132c-b729-48e4-b863-89ee96f0f385/9c9818dd-0fa3-42e1-8767-635ebdc42861/9c9818dd-0faf-43c1-b778-af864e1ed832/w768h574-4896c30a17297faaaf6848894fc0863a.jpg)
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7132c-b729-48e4-b863-89ee96f0f385/9c981912-b4ca-4ba1-81e0-f4abe5bf8822/9c981912-b52b-4e33-9766-bbc33764e2ee/w768h574-fe2a4b728b083a57bba281b403937765.jpg)
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7132c-b729-48e4-b863-89ee96f0f385/9c981ae7-c1ed-4695-95cd-4d5a8166f594/9c981ae7-c48c-4078-a0d3-df10768d2d27/w703h633-adf3a719186bb7c0a08ce8cbb2dbbac0.png)
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7132c-b729-48e4-b863-89ee96f0f385/9c981939-0c82-42b3-9363-16bd0b3f9a8f/9c981939-0f12-411c-b145-04cae2d4dd33/w729h545-aed818c51f909a98be830563e70b5e58.jpg)
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7132c-b729-48e4-b863-89ee96f0f385/9c9818fc-944a-4d10-8340-5924dc846c73/9c9818fc-97f7-4c6b-bc51-8bb3ac576286/w768h574-a6de57895e55bbc63570a1d9edb37d31.jpg)
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7132c-b729-48e4-b863-89ee96f0f385/9c98193d-8ad7-4339-a0b1-3f79530dfc7e/9c98193d-8ae3-411f-b8b8-7b05570faab7/w729h545-3e3e70b9f9964fe5695181205af3e4e7.jpg)
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7132c-b729-48e4-b863-89ee96f0f385/9c98193c-d0ac-4828-9b1c-46e04fc1ffa1/9c98193c-d0b8-4256-8bc9-14a265a61daa/w800h533-ae87ee07c54972469f45a4f9490bc450.jpg)
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7132c-b729-48e4-b863-89ee96f0f385/9c98193c-06c6-4d9f-8853-dc92646d83c9/9c98193c-0725-404e-95bf-9477fe2d7dee/w800h533-1dd68cc2747559ed239c5cd30dfc19b2.jpg)