Kia ora e te whānau,
Nau mai, hoki mai ki Te Arawhata!
This week we’re sharing:
- a social media takeover in ‘talk of the tāone’
- some of te ao Māori’s best heroes & villains in ‘picks o te wiki’
- Māori burgers, Sandy Adsett, and rongoā workshops you don’t want to miss in ‘events i tō rohe’
—all to make sure your cultural kete is feeling full to the brim for the week ahead.
We also have an announcement… we’re releasing a VERY limited number of mīharo as Matariki Celebration Packs full of goodies from Māori companies to help you and your whānau celebrate this year! We’re giving y’all first dibs before we kick off adverts on socials this ahiahi/afternoon.
- Tālofa lava! It’s Samoan Language Week.
- Bilingual drama (and we mean DRAMA), Ahikāroa season 6, premieres Thursday June 6, 9:30 pm on Whakaata Māori.
- The Arts Pasifika Awards for our island whanaunga are open for nominations.
- Aotearoa Music Awards are announcing winners on 30 May.
- Hira Nathan, best-selling author of ‘Whakawhetai’ is releasing a follow-up for kids.
- Our socials feeds have been taken over with announcements of an activation for Māori and Tāngata Tiriti who don’t believe the te tiriti is being respected.
In a cacophony of uplifting, hilarious, very Māori chat, the hosts of ‘Kōrero’, who fast feel like mates, are here to lighten up the cultural connection haerenga/journey. Between the paki/jokes and karaoke we loved the reo lessons and whakaaro from film & tv star, Mataara Stokes on playing heroes & villains, and finding success in the face of rejection.trepreneurial story, ever (sorry Rocket Lab). You must watch it.
Find it: on Spotify I Time: 40 mins I Cost: free I Credits: hosted by Marcia Hopa, Luke Bird, and Phoenix Ruka.
We couldn’t do heroes & villains without a graphic novel. This beautifully illustrated pukapuka/book follows Meariki on a pre-colonial quest full of bloodlines, power, magic, aroha, zombies, and magical talking kunekune. Our fellow fantasy nerds, rejoice, this is a culturally soaked, escapism-filled joy, available in both te reo Pākehā and Māori, that has your mutunga wiki/weekend written all over it.
Find it: at Huia or your library I Time: 52 pages I Cost: $25 or free at your library I Credits: written by Helen Pearse-Otene and Illustrated by Andrew Burdan
Hine-nui-te-pō is often described as some sort of cold and dark Ursula-type figure in her role as keeper of the underworld. This unique woodcut print reminds us to look closer, beyond the trickery and slander, to see that this wahine who welcomes our mate/dead with open arms is no villain, but a down-right heroine. Vanessa too.
Find them: on the poi room website I Time: 2 mins I Cost: $2,300 I Credits: check our Vanessa’s other mahi on her instagram page.
Know why I’ll always remember ‘mahu’ is ‘to heal’? Nā te mea/Because I heard an Ahikāroa character say it as she prepared to mārena/marry the man who almost murdered her before her brother showed up in drag to save the day. Nothing cements your reo like a bit of drama and this show is serving it in bucketloads. Catch up before season 6 hits!
Find it: on Māori+ I Time: 25 min episodes I Cost: free I Credits: created by Kura Productions
Scan for your hood, add the events to your calendar, and get out there e te whānau!
Get cultured at the ‘Have Car will Travel’ script reading, screen the fam at ‘Hauora Whānau Fest’, prep for takurua/winter with the ‘Anō, Anō Rongoā Workshop’, and laugh our loud at ‘Kōpū’, the theatre show.
Weave and listen to Qiane’s new Matariki pukapuka, watch ‘The Handlers’ play (k we’ve been and can now vouch it’s epic), up your street cred at ‘Ko Au: mini dance festival’, and fill a bag at the Oyster & Moon Pop Up Shop.
Eat Māori Burgers at the mid-Winter Christmas Market, crank some reo Māori at a Kafe Kōrero meet up, get dressed up for the ‘Ngā Tohu Toi Māori Creative Awards’, and discover local pigments at ’Tae Ako exhibition’.
Check out Sandy Adsett’s artwork, watch Rachel House and Jemaine Clement in ‘The Moon is Upside Down’, practise your pronunciation at the ’Waka Kōrero Māori Exhibition’, and listen to ’Pūrākau o Te Whenua’.
Go back in time at the theatre for Te Tupua-The Goblin, compare your reconnection story at Two Guitars, check out Courtney Dawson at Whanganui Comedy Gala, and wave your hands in the air at Sons of Zion.
Get your fix at the country’s largest art exhibition, listen to Hōhua Thomson and Matariki Williams at City Gallery Wellington, check out a Kete Whiri Weaving Demo, and don’t miss Taumata Whitireia’s ‘Farewell Showcase’.
Get along to a Kōrero te reo Māori, get creative at this Māori Art Workshop, have a cuppa with Marlborough Māori Ward Councillor, Allanah Burgess, and pick up some weaving skills at this Harakeke Workshop.
Get out for a sail on the waka hourua Hinemoana, check out this raraka exhibition in Timaru, weave some putiputi yourself to prep for Matariki, and be blown away by the tunes of Māmā Mihirangi & The Māreikura.
See rising star Maia Pereiha-Fletcher in concert, get close with ētahi manu at ’Te taha o te rangi exhibition’, witness this rare collection of Māori cloaks, and listen to raranga expert Rokahurihia Ngarimu-Cameron.
That’s us e hoa mā. Anyone else feeling tino/very ready for a Matariki break? We’re certainly looking forward to some time to rest, review, and refresh. More on that ā tērā wiki…
Whether you’re Māori, Tangata Tiriti, Pākehā, Tauiwi, or alien, we hope this newsy helped you to enjoy, learn from and connect with te ao Māori today.
Mā te wā!
