NZ at Festival of Pacific Arts

13/01/2021

A few whānau arts festivals this month. Mauri toi, mauriora!

Tāmaki Herenga Waka Festival, Auckland, Sat 23 Jan
http://bit.ly/3i7oBAE

Celebrating Makers: Māori & Pacific Arts, Te Papa, Wellington, Fri 22 & Sat 23 Jan https://bit.ly/3ijsBhL

Wellington Pasifika Festival 2021, Sat 23 Jan
http://bit.ly/2Xyx1HZ

Saturday 23 January 10am - 10pm Captain Cook Wharf Tangaroa is calling – Tangaroa karanga rā Now in it’s fifth year, the 2021 Tāmaki Herenga Waka Festival is an annual celebration of the City’s unique Maori seafaring history and culture through music, arts, craft and storytelling. This free ...

21/11/2020

The Te Waka Toi Awards 2020 are coming. Join us Monday 30 November 2020 for this celebration and recognition of excellence in Māori art.

In response to the ongoing presence of COVID-19 the Te Waka Toi Awards ceremony will be held online for the first time in the Awards’ history. The event will be hosted by actor-singer-director, Mere Boynton in a one-hour event from 7.00pm on Monday 30 November 2020 https://fb.me/e/dE4ObOcmE

19/11/2020

On Monday 30 November, 7pm we will host the Te Waka Toi Awards 2020.

Te Waka Toi Awards 2016 - Cori Marsters, Ngā Manu Pīrere - Emerging Māori Artists award for achievement by a Māori Artist at an early career stage.

This year three Ngā Manu Pīrere - Emerging Artists will be recognised alongside fellow artists across multiple categories.

Join us via the Creative New Zealand Facebook and Youtube pages for the awards ceremony. Event details: https://fb.me/e/dE4ObOcmE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0Edq8oW5J8&list=PL_CpVXRrdRHNZeDEE8V4gCNQ-MO56WAcm&index=32

Emerging Māori Artists: Ngā Manu Pīrere In recognition for achievement by a Young Māori Artist at an early career stage. A graduate of NZMACI Carving School ...

23/04/2020

Did you miss our Special Online Hui last week, or want to hear the kōrero again? You can watch the video below (with added subtitles to ensure you get the details) where we discuss our response to COVID-19.

We’ve also updated our COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions to include questions from this and other online hui - bit.ly/2VOS3Rf

Creative New Zealand, in partnership with PANNZ and Auckland Live, invites the arts community from across Aotearoa to come together for a special online hui ...

01/04/2020

He mea nui ngā toi ki a tātou o Aotearoa i a rā
The arts matter to New Zealanders every day

While you’re adjusting to lockdown bubble life, know that we’re working on our Emergency Response Package for the arts sector - more info coming soon and before funding opens on 14/4.

In the meantime, and if you haven't already, see if our dedicated COVID-19 response webpage has information you need (latest addition is a link to frequently asked questions and answers: http://ow.ly/3rSr50yY8Ft

You can also reach out to us on our dedicated email address, [email protected], if you can't find answers to your questions.

We’ll be in touch with Festpac 2021 delegation members soon, to see how you’re going.

Take care – stay home.

13/03/2020

A message update from Hawai'i.

12/03/2020

Two members of Aotearoa's delegation for FestPAC 2021 - Jack Kirifi and Moses Viliamu showing their genius at Pataka Art Gallery, Porirua in their latest exhibition 'Malo Tokelau'

Whitireia Pacific Artists in Residence, Moses Viliamu and Jack Kirifi have created a large mural based on 350 Pacific and traditional Tokelau tattoo designs for our new exhibition Malo Tokelau.
Moses and Jack would like to interact with the public and allow them to add to the mural.
They will be in the Bottle Creek Gallery every Tuesday and Thursday from 12-2pm during the exhibition.

12/03/2020

Tāria te wā... see you soon, Hawaii

The largest Pacific arts festival in Hawaii, with a large New Zealand delegation expected, has been postponed until next year.

12/03/2020

Hei te tau titoki, Hawai'i! See you next year Hawai'i.

June 18 - 27, 2021 - we'll be there!

05/03/2020

Senator Kalani English explains postponement. If any of our current delegation have any questions, please contact Project Manager, Mikki-Tae Tapara [email protected]

03/03/2020

E te whānau o tō tātou tira - hei te wā ka hiki anō ai tēnei kaupapa.

Although the Festival has been officially postponed, we remain in contact with the Festival Commission and will keep everyone updated.

We acknowledge this would not have been an easy decision but thank the Commission for their guidance.

Ka Hikinga Te Kaupapa mō te wā e tika ana - FestPAC 2020 POSTPONED.

Today organisers of the 2020 Festival of Pacific Arts in Hawai'i announced that due to growing global concerns over COVID-19 (novel coronavirus), the Festival will be postponed.

Our thoughts are with the Māori and Pasifika artists who, for over a year, have been preparing work for the Festival. We'll share more info as it comes to hand.

Kei ngā Ringa Toi katoa o tō tātou tira haere a tātou whakaaro, tāria te wā ka hiki anō ai tēnei kaupapa.

https://www.creativenz.govt.nz/news/festival-of-pacific-arts-2020-postponed

21/02/2020

Hawaii FestPAC Commission are preparing to welcome 28 countries to the 13th Festival of Pacific Arts 10 - 21st June, Hawaii Convention Centre.

"Open to everyone to come". 115 Māori and Pasifika artists from Aotearoa will be there. Hei ākuanei Hawai'i.

20/02/2020

Taniku Warren!

The legendary musician, composer and writer, Warren Maxwell shares this message on the power of the arts for wellbeing.

Warren has had a leading presence in multiple large (and small) arts collaborations for many years including Waka Odyssey, NZ Arts Festival 2018 involving five waka hourua from Aotearoa and Samoa. Warren's next project is Ka Pō, Ka Waiata Songs in Darkness at the upcoming Auckland Arts Festival.

Mauriora e hoa.

18/02/2020

Stevie Davis-Tana, young poet and one of the youth Leadership Amabassadors with the Aotearoa delegation to FestPAC has taken up an Indigenous Performing Arts Residency to Banff (Canada)

Stevie and Eric Soakai (brother to fellow delegation member Zechariah Soakai) will spend three weeks working on their writing, attending workshops and performing with other artists. After the residency Stevie will prepare for her role at FestPAC as a Ka Hao Te Rangatahi member of the Youth programme.

The Big Idea managed to catch up with Stevie before her departure to Canada.

https://www.thebigidea.nz/stories/taking-indigenous-art-to-the-world

Dominic Hoey talks to young New Zealanders getting set to highlight their culture at the Banff Indigenous Performing Arts Residency.

17/02/2020

112 days to go for Festival opening. Aotearoa will be there and the excitement is building.

February 7, 2020 Excitement Building over FESTPAC 2020 Festpac 2020 Preparations Full preparations are underway with the world's largest cultural festival set to take place in Hawai'i in six months' time.Posted by Te Ao on Thursday, February 6, 2020

23/01/2020

And so it begins... Tāmaki Makaurau e haere ana ki te mura o te ahi.

Wishing all teams in the Auckland regional Kapa Haka competiton the very best for tomorrow. And all regions and teams to come who will seek qualification to become the best of the best - Haramai te toki!

https://www.tematatini.co.nz/events/

Ki te whāngai, ki te whakatipu, ki te manaaki i nga mahi kapa haka kia pūāwai ki ōna taumata To foster, develop and protect kapa haka in the pursuit of excellence

21/01/2020

E te hoa e Piri, haere atu rā ki ngā toi o ngā rangi.

Toi Aotearoa Creative New Zealand pays respect to arts leader Professor Piri Sciascia who passed on the weekend.

Kua hinga tēnei rātā whakamarumaru o Takitimu waka i te wao tapu nui a Tāne. He toka tū moana, he kanohi hōmiromiro, he ihumanea, he kaitiaki nō tōna pātaka iringa kōrero, kua kore. He toki tārai kōrero, whakapara i te huarahi mō ngā ringa rehe toi Māori, me ngā toi taketake, ngā to...

15/01/2020

Putea Tautoko. Do you know the CNZ funding opportunities for this year? This calendar will give you more info. Mā te huruhuru te manu ka rere - adorn a bird with feathers so it may fly.

15/01/2020

Wellington region Māori Artist opportunity:

Wellington City Council’s City Arts and Events team are calling for Expressions of Interest from Te Whanganui-a-Tara Māori artists to participate in the second Canberra Wellington Indigenous Artist Exchange programme.

The Indigenous Artist Exchange supports a Māori artist from the Wellington Region to spend six weeks in Canberra during May and June, and a Canberra-based Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander artist to visit Wellington.

Māori artists who live in the Wellington region or who have strong connections to the region can signal interest via email to Project Manager, [email protected] by Tuesday 4 February 2020. Emails should include art form and information that will support Expressions of Interest, for example web-links to examples of work – websites, social media pages, galleries, theatres, etc.

Wellington City Council’s Arts team, in conversation with Council’s Indigenous Arts Advisory Group and in partnership with artsACT in Canberra and their affiliated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Group will select the artist.

Artists must commit to working full-time on a research project in Canberra and to immerse themselves in Canberra’s indigenous and contemporary arts sector. On return to Wellington they will be required to share their experiences.

Wellington City Council and artsACT will provide:
• One return economy airfare between Wellington and Canberra
• Per diem to cover living expenses for the duration of the residency
• Self-contained accommodation and studio space at Gorman House, a cross-art form residency hub in Canberra’s CBD.

Artists must email their Expression of Interest within three-weeks to Senior Arts Advisor – Projects, Katie Taylor-Duke by Tuesday 4 February.

For more information, contact

Katie Taylor-Duke
Senior Arts Advisor – Projects | | Wellington City Council
P +6448038021 | M 021 227 8021
E [email protected] | W Wellington.govt.nz | |

The programme will strengthen cultural connections between the two cities, as part of our Sister City Agreement initiated in 2016.

13/01/2020

An important element of FestPAC is the support for traditional dance. For FestPAC 2020 the Aotearoa delegation welcomes the current traditional Māori performance dance champions 'Ngā Tūmanako' (Auckland).

Here is Ngā Tūmanako and their choral item 'He Waerea' meaning to clear pathways. You can see their full winning performance on Māori Television on Demand.

"Kaupare ake ngā taumahatanga, may difficulties that befall us be cast aside"

Hei ākuni Ngā Tūmanako.

'He Waerea' - performed by champions Ngā Tūmanako at the 2019 Te Matatini competition in Wellington. All credit and rights belong to Māori Television©

12/01/2020

Moses Viliamu is one of our delegation members who will attend FestPAC 2020! Moses alongside fellow artists Jack Kirifi and Zac Mateo have an exciting piece of work for Hawaii "Cry of the Stolen People”, which will tell the story of Tokelau slavery when the people were stolen/ coerced into low paying/ slave conditions to work in Australia.

12/12/2019

CNZ & Toi Maori welcomed master carver, poet, fisherman and philosopher Greg Colflax from the first nations people of Makah, Washington state who shared his life’s experiences, his work and his practice.

Greg is regarded as a master in his peoples traditional carving methods of masks and large scale wood carvings having been taught the practice by his grandfather and father.

Greg was a participant at the recent Te Atinga indigenous arts gathering in Ngāruawāhia where he collaborated with established kaiwhakairo (master carver) Kereti Rautangata and Clive Fugill. The gathering left a lasting impression on
Greg where “areas of myself were awakened by the interactions with Māori artists.”

Something that has particularly intrigued Greg in his time here is the language that Māori have that informs their practice. The words and understandings that centre and guide Māori practice is “phenomenal and something I will be working on when I return home. Seeking out those of my people who have this knowledge our words, our terms and learning those to inform and strengthen my own practice knowledge will be something I’ll take with me from this time.”

When asked what advice he would give to emerging artists, he replied “Find your spiritual centre because the journey you are going to go thru – you’ll need it. And from there, from your spiritual centre you’ll deal with whatever comes with it.”

The Toi Sqwigwialtxw Residency is an exchange between the Longhouse Education and Cultural Center and Māori Artists. The residency is managed by Toi Māori Aotearoa and funded by both Creative New Zealand and the Longhouse. It is offered biennially to established artists of Māori descent to attend a residency in North America and Aotearoa.

Previous Aotearoa recipients of the Toi Sgwigwialtxw Residency include:
Ruth Woodbury (2018)
Lyonel Grant (2014)
Karl Leonard, senior weaver, carver and performer (2012)
Henare and Tawera Tahuri, performing artists (2010)
June Northcroft-Grant, visual artist (2008)
Dr Takirirangi Smith, master carver (2007)
Tina Wirihana, master weaver (2005)

Our thanks to the Toi Māori team for continuing to manaaki this residency.

11/12/2019

Ko ngā Taonga Toi o Te Waka Toi 2019. Celebrating Māori arts & artists. Whakanuia!

11/12/2019

Me mihi ka tika.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/118090137/massey-lecturer-and-artist-kura-te-warurewiri-recognised

Kura Te Waru-Rewiri has been celebrated at Creative New Zealand's Te Waka Toi awards.

27/11/2019

Ngā Taonga Toi a Te Waka Toi 2019. Hei te Rāhōroi e tū nei. Te Waka Toi Awards 2019, this Saturday!

A sculptor, an orator, a carver, a musician and an actor will be among those who will be recognised and celebrated at the 2019 Te Waka Toi Awards for excellence and achievement in Māori art in Rotorua this week.

25/11/2019

Kei te tata mai te pō tuku taonga mō Ngā Toi Māori 2019. He hokinga mahara tēnei ki ngā kaiwhihi ō mua, pērā i te tohunga mau rākau, tohunga haka o Te Arawa, o Ngāti Tuwharetoa a Mita Mohi.

Hei ngā rā e tū nei ka mōhio tātou ko wai ka hua, ko wai ka tohu

21/11/2019

to the Te Waka Toi Awards 2003 and te ringa toi o Te Whānau a Apanui a Cliff Whiting me Te Arikinui Te Ataairangikaahu.

The Te Waka Toi Awards 2019 are coming.

Today we reflect on past recipients, 2003 Te Tohu mō Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu Exemplary/Supreme Award recipient, renowned artist Cliff Whiting (Te Whānau a Apanui) Here Whiting receives his award from Te Arikinui Te Ataairangikaahu.

Recipients of the 2019 awards will be announced Saturday 30 November

21/11/2019

E te whānau, updated info for FestPAC 2020, Hawaii. Updated programme and venues.

28 weeks to go!

Tū te hoe!

Events Schedule (Tentative, to be confirmed) June 10, 2020 Waʻa Arrivals and Welcome June 11, 2020 Lei Draping Ceremony at the Statue of King Kamehameha I June 11, 2020 FESTPAC Opening Ceremonies at ʻIolani Palace June 12, 2020 FESTPAC Village Opening June 12 – 20, 2020Cultural demonstrations, p...

19/11/2019

Kei te tata mai te pō tuku taonga toi. He kaupapa whakanui i a tātou ringa toi, kaiwhakairo kupu, kaingākau ki tō tātou ao Māori. The Te Waka Toi Awards are coming. to 2018 recipient, Kuini Moehau Reedy. 2019 recipients will be announced Sat 30 November, 2019.

The Te Waka Toi Awards 2019 are coming.

Today we reflect on past recipients, 2018 recipient for Te Tohu aroha mō Ngoi Kumeroa Pewhairangi: “Whakarongo, Titiro, Kōrero” | Award for strengthening Te Reo Rangatira - Kuini Moehau Reedy, MNZM. Ngāti Porou. Nā Te Taura Whiri i te reo Māori te kaitautoko mō te tohu nei.

Kuini Moehau Reedy receives the Ngoi Kumeroa Pewhairangi award from Chief Executive of Te Taura Whiri i te reo Māori, Ngahiwi Apanui

Recipients of the 2019 awards will be announced Saturday 30 November, 2019

19/11/2019

Ka whakanuia ngā toi Māori. Te Waka Toi Awards are coming.

The Te Waka Toi Awards 2019 are coming.
A moment to celebrate Maori art, artists and advocates. Award winners will be annonced Saturday 30th November.
Over the next week we will profile past Te Waka Toi recipients on CNZ social media. Follow our socials for updates

17/11/2019

E moe e te tau

Aue te mamae te tau o taku ate kua wehe nei koe. Kua hinga tēnei rātā whakamarumaru o te ao whakaari o te motu. He kanohi hōmiromiro, he ihumanea, he kaitiaki nō tōna pātaka iringa kōrero, kua kore. Kua rere atu rā koe e te tuahine ki ngā awa akeake ki te haupuranga o te kauheke kaumātua,...

01/11/2019

'Cry of the Stolen People' - a story of Tokelauans sold into slavery.

This new art installation, will travel to next year's Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture in Hawai'i as part of the Aotearoa Delegation.

The work was launched this week in Porirua to emphasise the resilience of the Pacific country as part of New Zealand's Tokelau Language Week.

Malo ni Moses Viliamu, Jack Kirifi and Zac Mateo for presenting the work, can't wait to see it in Hawai'i!

In the late 1800s, Tokelau's population plummeted to 85 people, because of slavery.

14/10/2019

He ara e wātea ana ki ngā ringa toi Māori tonu.

CNZ & Leadership NZ Scholarships. Open now. Tonoa e hoa mā.

Are you a mid-career or established Māori artist or practitioner? Want to develop your leadership skills all while addressing key issues Aotearoa faces today?

We have partnered with Leadership New Zealand to offer two full 10 months scholarships for the Leadership New Zealand Programme. On the programme, you will work alongside leaders from a diverse range of sectors across the country and be introduced to a wide range of resources including: creative and design thinking methodologies; critical thinking; tools for increasing resilience and managing stress; leading through coaching and more.

Be quick!! Applications close Monday 21 October 2019. If you are interested you NEED to contact Petrina Togi-Sa'ena at [email protected] or (09) 309 3749.

You can also find out more information at https://www.leadershipnz.co.nz


Photo: Leadership NZ Programme class of 2019

02/10/2019

AOTEAROA DELGATION TO FESTPAC 2020

Kia kōtahi rā tātou hei whānau. Over the next few months we will profile members of our delegation. Atamira Dance Company are an experienced national and international dance company. This profile briefly looks at their background and the work they will present at FestPAC 2020.

'CELEBRATE ATAMIRA'

Atamira Dance Company at FestPAC 2020: “By showcasing the work we do and want to share, the opportunity to grow the desire for Indigenous artists and people to participate in contemporary dance will grow. We want to grow our sector across the Pacific with increasingly more Indigenous contemporary dance theatre specialists. We feel this is a significant moment and place to stage our work and our concepts and aim to present excerpts of our repertoire from the past 20 years of our company, as well as offer a range of creative opportunities for collaboration and exploration”. - Jack Gray, Artistic Director.

Atamira are recognised nationally and internationally for weaving cultural practices including language, song, prayer, ceremony, oratory, storytelling and choreographic processes to create movement and dance informed by mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge)

In Hawaii, Atamira will perform and host workshops for artists. Director, Jack Gray has over 10 years practice between Aotearoa and Hawaii and Atamira members have participated at FestPACs in Belau 2004 and the Solomon Islands 2012.

20/09/2019

Aotearoa FestPAC 2020 member, writer Nadine Anne Hura is also featured in 'Huia Short Stories 13'. Ka nui ngā mihi ki a Huia Publishers me ngā kaituhi katoa i waihanga mai i te tuhinga kōrero hou nei.

18/09/2019

Ngā taonga tuku iho a Te Rangihīroa. Ka mihi ki a Julian rāua ko Ngahina!

Insight into the Wānanga Wānana Residency, at the Bishop Muesum, Hawai'i with artists Julian Arahanga and Ngahina Hohaia.

17/09/2019

AOTEAROA DELEGATION TO FESTPAC 2020

Kia kōtahi rā tātou hei whānau. Over the next few months we will profile members of the Aotearoa delegation to gain an insight in to their work, influences and what they hope to present at FestPAC 2020.

NGĀ KAIHANGA UKU: NGĀ AHI KI ROTO
Baye Riddell, Rhonda Halliday-Inglis, Carla Ruka, Noelle Jakeman

Nga Kaihanga Uku’s (Maori Clay Artists Collective) participation at FestPAC 2020 will share kōrero and explore creative ideas to inform and inspire the artform of uku (clay). “Our project is entitled Ngā Ahi ki roto which refers to the energy, sparks of creativity & the intense fires/desires within. It’s that energy and intensity that we draw on as part of our creative process when working with uku and collaborating with other artists.It also acknowledges the unique volcanic whenua (land, earth) and the fiery determination of tangata whenua, people of the land, who protect it. We want to highlight and profile environmental & land issues to support those efforts made by tangata whenua. This will inform the presentations, workshop and uku work that will be produced during FestPAC.

It also aligns with the theme of steering your own waka, taking control of situations and moving forward.”

In 2007 member of Ngā Kaihanga Uku, Baye Riddell was awarded a CNZ research grant ‘Toi Oahu” where he spent two months at the University of Hawaii giving workshops, creating works, researched the development of Hawaiian ceramics and explore indigenous clay and ceramics in contemporary works.
While there Baye was also able to spend time with filmmaker, Merata Mita who was a resident of Hawaii and lecturing at Hawai’i University at the time.

Images supplied by artists.
Baye Riddell and students in Hawaii.
"He Taniwha o te Awa" - Rhonda Halliday-Inglis
Carla Ruka - Sculpture in Ceramics
"Ngā Kaitiaki" - Noelle Jakeman

12/09/2019

He mahi tahi i a Aotearoa me Hawai'i i raro i te maru o Te Rangihiroa. This initiative between CNZ & The Bishop Museum, Hawai'i.

The Bishop Museum is named after Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop and was built to house her artefacts. The Bishop will host the carving activities for FestPAC 2020. Each country will also spend time at the Bishop to see the collections.

10/09/2019

Hei kõkiri i ngā take toi ā hei whakarite mõ FestPAC 2020. Tātai Rango members (Heads of Delegation) are attending the discussions for arts and culture across the Pacific and preparation for FestPAC 2020

11/06/2019

Kei te tata mai a pae tawhiti. The distant horizon is drawing nearer.