Te Arawhata

Kia ora e te whānau,

Nau mai, hoki mai ki Te Arawhata—the unexpected edition!

Often when we tell people about Te Arawhata we get the feeling they think we write about Whale Rider ia wiki, ia wiki.

And hey, no shade to Whale Rider. We LOVE Whale Rider! Heoi/but, as we’re sure you all know, there is much more of te ao Māori to see and experience here, and it doesn’t always fit so tidily i te pouaka/in the box.

In fact, it’s probably the more unexpected arts, media, and events that have led us to some of our biggest cultural insights.

Nō reira, that’s where we’re headed with you all today. Kia rite/get ready e hoa mā, some of our top picks this week push the envelope—like naughties techno beats, mushroom cities, and cannibalism push the envelope…

(I’m imagining all your faces right now and some of them look like my te reo Māori classmate’s did when I suggested an alien party as the setting for our joint assignment. We ended up going with a human 21st…—her idea. But trust me fam, even if these picks aren’t your cuppa, it’ll be fun to hear about them, I promise).

First up, as always, me whakatau tātou/let’s settle in, with a catch up in talk of the tāone.

‍

Talk of the tāone

Your weekly round up of the arts, media, and events everybody’s talking about

‍

- Mihi mai ki Te Whānau Madrigal! The cast and release date for the new Disney reo Māori movie is out.

- Eliza McCartney is inspiring reo Māori learners everywhere with this beautiful mihi she cranked at the Olympics.

- New episodes of our favourite are back every Sunday.

- ‘Mātaki Mai’, the inaugural Māori Film Festival in Ōtautahi is all geared up for Te Wiki o te Reo Māori.

- Māori media have been all over the dramas at the Iwi Chairs Forum.

- ‘Epetoma o te reo Māori Kūki 'Airani’ Cook Islands Māori Language Week is on. Time to update your email signature in support!
‍

Picks o te wiki

Our top 4 unexpected inspired recommendations from the world of Māori arts, media, and events.

‍

Listen to: Geneva AM, an award winning producer, beat maker, and vocalist

Inspired by 00’s eurodance, initially this waiata sounds like something that might play as you walk into a cool underground club (the momo/kind we would feel deeply uncomfortable in). Then Geneva’s TINO/EXTREMELY beautiful voice hits, the reo Māori lyrics take over, and suddenly—unexpectedly—we’re home. It’s so good we almost want to go clubbing anō/again. Almost.

_{Find it:}_{on Spotify}_{and you can catch her performing at}_Māoriland_{, August 17!}_{I Time: three singles with remix options worth I Cost: free with your account Credits:}_Geneva_{is from Ngāti Ruapani mai Waikaremoana, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairoa, Aitutaki, & Palmerston.}

Do: check out Ngaroma Riley’s carvings

Started carving Buddhist statues in Japan, then studied whakairo/carving at Te Wananga o Aotearoa… and now she’s here. You’re probably not having a pohewa/vision if you see some of the figures Ngaroma has carved moving. Specifically created under the noa (i.e not tapu for wāhine to get involved) house of entertainment, they’re puppets! Rad ones!

_{Find her mahi: on}_instagram_{- she also has a solo exhibition opening at}_{Seasons Aotearoa}_{in Tāmaki Makaurau on August 30 I Time: however long ya like I Cost: free to browse I Notes: you can learn more about Ngaroma in this awesome}_{Reads with Rosa podcast}_.

Read: ‘The Dawnhounds’ a fantasy novel by Sascha Stronach

Warning: this pick includes reo/language and action appropriate for its setting alongside murder scenes, pirates, and sci-fi battles, but definitely not for all of our readers’ homes. What we love most is te ao/the world Stronach has created; futuristic, haraki/bizarre, magical—and somehow also Māori, it’s like nothing we’ve ever read before. For those seeking something rerekē/different, you’ve found it.

_{Find it: at}_{Paper Plus}_{and other good stores I Time: 342 pages I Cost: $36.99 I Credits: written by}_{Sascha Stronach}_{(Kāi Tahu), published by Saga Press.}

Watch: ‘Fresh Meat’, a unique horror/comedy/action film

This kiriata/film follows a criminal kēnge/gang who choose to hide in the home of a middle-class Māori family when their prison break goes wrong, only to find out that whānau are kaitāngata/cannibals. It comes with a strong dose of lesbian stockholm syndrome, gore, and clever political references. Basically it’s full-blown genius nuts that you’ll absolutely love or absolutely hate.

_{Find them: on the}_{NZ Film Commission website}_{I Time: 91 minutes I Cost: rent it for $5.99, buy it for $14.99 I Credits: written by Briar Grace Smith (aka one of our favourite writers ever), directed by Danny Mulheron.}

‍

We definitely got caught out on this one…
‍

Something WE didn’t expect when we started Te Arawhata was that we would run out of space to feature all the amazing Māori events going on around the country… (though yes we absolutely should have seen that one coming 😅).

Nō reira/And so, finally, we’re introducing ‘Haere’ the new manga/branch of Te Arawhata where we’ll be exclusively sharing the concerts, wānanga, reo meet-ups, performances and more going on in YOUR region.

If you’re keen to hear about all that, give your region a follow on instagram using the links below e hoa mā. As soon as we hit 100 peeps on each page, we’ll start listing events. Any bets for who might get there first? 🤔😉😊

Not a fan of instagram? Hold tight e te whānau, we’ll be introducing extra channels to help you keep up soon.

See ya out there!

‍