Thursday 24 March 2022

A major new toi Māori wānanga, Toi Te Kupu: Whakaahuatanga, is to be held in Tāmaki Makaurau to coincide with this winter’s Matariki. Hosted by Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, this Māori arts symposium will be held across two days, 15–16 June 2022.

Toi Te Kupu – to hold fast to the word, honour the word – and Whakaahuatanga – to transform and metamorphose – reflect the kaupapa and Māori paradigm for the wānanga, which places te reo Māori me ngā tikanga Māori – Māori language, culture, beliefs, values and practices – at its heart.

Toi Te Kupu: Whakaahuatanga aspires to celebrate and showcase the transformative power of mātauranga Māori, as expressed through art, exhibition-making and wider creative practices, while increasing the dialogue between Māori artists on what is critically important in contemporary Māori art today.

Toi Te Kupu: Whakaahuatanga is facilitated by Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki’s Senior Curator, Māori Art, Nathan Pōhio, and supported by the Gallery’s Māori Advisory Committee, Haerewa.

Toi Te Kupu sits under the mantle of whakaahuatanga, the notion of transformation and metamorphosis as evidenced by our tūpuna. Under this, we seek to provide platforms for Māori artists, thinkers and curators to bring their voices to the community,’ says Pōhio.

‘Our hope is that this wānanga allows for a wealth of sharing, thinking, speaking – and most importantly – listening.'

Te Arepa Morehu, Head of Kaupapa Māori at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki says, ‘Toi Te Kupu is an opportunity to bring diverse thoughts together to wānanga the past, examine those things that are critical right now and explore the opportunities ahead as we move to haere ake nei – into the future.’

Dr Valance Smith, Chair of Haerewa, says, ‘At the heart of Toi Te Kupu are Māori artists, their art and their stories capturing people’s hearts and minds, bringing issues to the fore, engaging with people, and invoking a palpable sense of connection that transcends diverse ways of thinking and worldviews.’

Along with the chance to hear from keynote speakers, including Emeritus Professor Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku (Te Arawa, Ngāi Tūhoe and Waikato) and Robert Jahnke, ONZM FRSNZ (Ngāi Taharora, Te Whānau a Iritekura, Te Whānau a Rakairoa o Ngāti Porou), attendees can expect opportunities to wānanga and explore public art by contemporary Māori artists in the central city.

Emeritus Professor Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku (Te Arawa, Ngāi Tūhoe and Waikato) was raised by a whānau of dedicated weavers and story tellers in Ōhinemutu, Rotorua. Te Awekōtuku is critical thinker, writer, lecturer, activist, curator, critic, and governor, and has produced three collections of creative fiction and poetry, a volume of essays and the definitive Mau Moko: The World of Māori Tattoo in 2007.  Her most recent scholarly book, E Ngā Uri Whakatupu: Weaving Legacies 2015, accompanied her award-winning exhibition on Rangimārie Hetet and Diggeress Te Kanawa. Her works on culture, gender, heritage and sexuality have been published and acclaimed nationally and internationally. Te Awekōtuku is a Fellow of the Auckland War Memorial Museum and an Emeritus Professor at the University of Waikato.

Robert Jahnke, ONZM FRSNZ (Ngāi Taharora, Te Whānau a Iritekura, Te Whānau a Rakairoa o Ngāti Porou) is considered one of New Zealand’s leading contemporary Māori artists. Jahnke is a highly respected educator who works as an historian, teacher, researcher, writer and advocate for Māori and indigenous arts nationally and internationally. He is responsible for setting up the first Māori Visual Arts degree in a university: a Bachelor of Māori Visual Arts in 1995 which was subsequently followed by a Postgraduate Diploma of Māori Visual Arts and a Master of Māori Visual Arts in 1999. He is currently the Professor of Māori Visual Arts at Massey University’s Whiti o Rehua School of Art.

Toi Te Kupu: Whakaahuatanga is organised by Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki with the support of Auckland Council’s Māori Outcomes Fund. The wānanga will be held at the Te Pokapū | Aotea Centre across Wednesday 15 and Thursday 16 June 2022.

Ka tū tētahi wānanga toi hirahira ki Tāmaki Makaurau hei tēnei Matariki 

RĀPARE, TE 24 O MAEHE

Ka orua tēnei kaupapa hirahira, tēnei kaupapa hou, Toi Te Kupu: Whakaahuatanga me Matariki hei ngā marama o takurua. Ka tū ki Tāmaki Makaurau. Ka whakahaerengia e Te Toi o Tāmaki. E rua rangi te roa o tēnei kaupapa. Ka tū ā te 15-16 o Pipiri, 2022.

Toi Te kupu – Kia puritia te kupu, kia mana te kupu – Whakaahuatanga – Kia whakaahua, kia whakataurite – Kia whaiwhakaaro ki te kaupapa me te tauira Māori mō te wānanga e noho ai te reo Māori me ōna tikanga, te ahurea Māori, ngā whakapono, ngā uara me ngā mahi ki waenganui pū i tēnei kaupapa.

Toi Te Kupu: Ko te tūmanako nui, mā tēnei kaupapa, mā Whakaahuatanga e whakanui, e whakamātakitaki te mana o te mātauranga Māori mā te mahi toi, mā te waihanga whakakitenga, mā ngā mahi auaha whānui, kia tupu ai hoki te whanaungatanga i waenganui i te ringatoi Māori me ngā mea nui o ngā mahi toi o nāianei.

Toi Te Kupu: E whakahaerengia a Whakaahuatanga e te Senior Curator, Māori Art, e Nathan Pōhio. E tautokohia ana hoki e te komiti Māori o te whare toi, e Haerewa.

‘Ka noho a Toi Te Kupu i raro i te korowai o Whakaahuatanga – Kia whāia te tauira o ngā tūpuna. I raro i tēnei, ko te whāinga, kia whai wāhi mō te ringatoi Māori, mō te kaiwhakaaro, mō ngā kaitiaki toi hoki kia rangona ai ō rātou reo ki te hapori’, te kī a Pōhio. 

Ko te tūmanako he nui ngā hua ka puta i te whakawhitinga o te whakaaro, o te kōrero, inarā hoki te whakarongo

Hei tā te Head of Kaupapa Māori, a Te Arepa Morehu, ‘He aheinga nui tēnei e tuitui ai i ngā momo whakaaro onamata, kia āta tirohia ngā āhuatanga nui onāianei, kia toro hoki ki pitomata o āpōpō i a tātou ka neke whakamua ki te anamatā’

Hei tā Tākuta Valance Smith, te heamana o Haerewa, ‘Kei te puku o Toi Te Kupu: ngā ringatoi Māori, ā rātou mahi toi me ā rātou kōrero e kapo ake ana i te ngākau me te hinengaro o te tangata. Kia takamua ngā take, kia hiwa te tangata ki te hononga kei tua i ngā tūmomo whaiwhakaarotanga, kei tua hoki i ngā tirohanga ao.’

Emeritus Professor Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku (Te Arawa, Ngāi Tūhoe, Waikato)

I whakatupuria a Ahorangi Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku (Te Arawa, Ngāi Tūhoe, Waikato) e tētahi whānau manawanui ki ngā mahi raranga, ki te tuku pūrākau hoki i Ōhinemutu, i Rotorua. He tangata tino whaiwhakaaro a Te Awekōtuku, He tino kaituhi, he pouako, he kaiwhakahē, he kaitiaki, he kāwana. E toru ngā kohinga auaha kōrero paki, toikupu anō hoki kua whakaputahia e Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku, he kohinga pito kōrero me Mau Moko: The World of Māori Tattoo i te tau 2007. Ko tētahi o āna pukapuka whakamutunga i whakapuhia ai e ia i te tau 2015, E Ngā Uri Whakatupu: Weaving Legacies, i noho hei hoa haere ki tana whakaaturanga whakawhiwhinga toa mō Rangimārie Hetet rāua ko Diggeress Te Kanawa. Kua whakamanahau nuitia āna mahi me āna tuhinga ahurea, ira tangata, taonga tuku iho, taeratanga hoki puta noa i Aotearoa, puta noa hoki i te ao. I tū a Te Awekōtuku hei ahorangi ki Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato i ōna tau.

Kua whakamanahau nuitia āna mahi me āna tuhinga ahurea, ira tangata, taonga tuku iho, taeratanga hoki puta noa i Aotearoa, puta noa hoki i te ao. He tūranga tōna i Tāmaki paenga Hira. I tū hoki a Te Awekōtuku hei ahorangi ki Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato i ngā tau o mua.

Robert Jahnke ONZM FRSNZ (Ngāi Taharora, Te Whānau a Iritekura, Te Whānau a Rakairoa o Ngāti Porou) 

Ko Jahnke tētahi o ngā pou matua ringa toi Māori onāianei. E whakautehia nuitia ana ia me āna mahi hei tumu kōrero, hei kaiako, hei kairangahau, hei kaituhi, kaiwhakatūtū mō ngā mahi toi Māori, me ngā mahi toi taketake puta noa i te motu, puta noa hoki i te ao. Nāna te tohu paetahi Māori Visual Arts tuatahi i whakarite ki tētahi whare wānanga. I te tuatahi, ko te tohu paetahi Toi Ataata Māori / Māori Visual Arts i te tau 1995, ka whai ko te tohu paerunga, ā, eke atu ana ki te tohu paerua i te tau 1999. I tēnei wā, ko ia te Ahorangi Toi Ataata Māori i Te Kura Toi o Whiti o Rehua ki Te Whare Wānanga o Massey.

Atu i te whakarongo ki ēnei kaikōrero, hei reira hoki te āheinga ki te wānanga, ki te āta tirotiro i ngā mahi toi tūmatanui a ngā ringatoi Māori ki te pokapū o te tāone.

Kua whakaritea tēnei kauapapa Toi Te Kupu: Whakaahuatanga e Te Toi o Tāmaki me te tautoko a Māori Outcomes Fund nā Te Kaunihera o Tāmaki. Ka tū te wānanga ki Te Pokapū: Aotea Centre te Rāapa te 15 ki te 16 o Pipiri 2022.

Event details:
Toi Te Kupu: Whakaahuatanga

When:
Wednesday 15 and Thursday 16 June 2022

Where:
Te Pokapū | Aotea Centre
50 Mayoral Drive
Auckland CBD

Admission:
Earlybird: $245.00*

Standard: $335.00
Student: $180.00

*Earlybird tickets are available from now until 9am on Wednesday 6 April 2022.

www.toitekupu.co.nz

Ngā taipitopito:
Toi Te Kupu: Whakaahuatanga

Āhea:
E rua rā: Wenerei te 15 o Pipiri ki te Taite te 16 o Pipiri 2022

Ki hea:
Te Pokapū | Aotea Centre 50 Mayoral Drive Auckland CBD

Ngā tīkiti:
Tīkiti tōmua: $245.00*

Tīkiti: $335.00
Tīkiti tauira: $180.00

*Tonoa mai ngā tīkiti wawe (Early Bird Tickets) ināinei tae noa ki te 9am hei te 6 o Apereira 2022.

www.toitekupu.co.nz

For high-res images and interview requests contact:

Priscilla Southcombe
Communications Officer

Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki

+64 21 548 480
priscilla.southcombe@aucklandartgallery.com

Media release
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HE WHAKAPAOHOTANGA
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