New Zealand Arts Festival

NEWS

Works by the treasured late Māori clay artist Colleen Urlich. Image: Spirit Wrestler Gallery (Vancouver, Canada).

Around 100 Māori and New Zealand-based Pasifika artists will represent Aotearoa alongside 26 other Pacific nations at the 12th Festival of Pacific Arts in Guam next May and June.

Considered the premier arts and culture event for the Pacific region, this is a government-to-government invitation, with the Māori Committee of the Arts Council of Creative New Zealand responsible for Aotearoa’s representation.

Invitations to the festival were extended to indigenous peoples of the Pacific, and Māori extended their invitation to New Zealand-based contemporary Pasifika artists to present a distinct Aotearoa voice.

“Once again we’re extremely pleased with the quality of artists who will be representing Aotearoa next year, ” said Darrin Haimona, Head of the Aotearoa delegation for the 2016 festival and Chair of the Māori Committee.

“Together with our Pasifika brothers and sisters we will showcase the best of Māori and Pacific art from our country.”

Artists were invited to submit applications to be part of the Aotearoa delegation. Those selected represent a breadth of artforms ranging from customary Māori arts such as clay artistry, waka navigation, tā moko, weaving, kapa haka, carving and traditional music, through to contemporary arts practices such as (contemporary) dance, music, visual arts, moving image and sculpture, spoken-word poetry and theatre.

“The artists in our delegation will have an opportunity to be part of a unique gathering of artists from Te Moana Nui a Kiwa so they can share artistry and skills. We hope this experience will also inspire future collaborations with colleagues from throughout the Pacific.”

The Festival of Pacific Arts takes place every four years, bringing together more than 2, 000 artists and other cultural practitioners from 27 Pacific nations. New Zealand has sent a delegation to every festival since 1972. Creative New Zealand will pay for delegates’ travel, meals and per diems.

The 12th Festival of Pacific Arts will take place in Guam from 22 May to 4 June 2016. The festival’s theme in 2016 is: What we Own, What we Have, What we Share, United Voices of the Pacific.

More details on the Aotearoa delegation to come late 2015/early 2016.

Media enquiries to:

Jasmyne Chung
Senior Communications Adviser, Creative New Zealand

Moving image and other art works, photographic research, curatorial networking (Visual Arts)

Lisa Reihana
James Pinker

National Collective of Māori Clay Artists

Baye Riddell
Rhonda Halliday
Stevei Houkamau
Carla Ruka
Dorothy Waetford
Amorangi Hikuroa

Kiri (contemporary dance)

Louise Potiki Bryant
Paerau Corneal
Paddy Free

Tā Moko (Māori tattoo)

Derek Lardelli
Henare Brooking
Emma Marino
Raniera McGrath
Joni Brooking

Te Toki Voyaging Trust (Waka/Navigation)

Hoturoa Barclay-Kerr and colleague

Urban Contemporary Street Art

Janine and Charles Williams

Whare Whakaruruhau (construct a whare)

Erena Koopu
Makarini Soloman

Party with the Aunties (Theatre/Whakangahau)

Erina Daniels and performers

Te Ao – Karetau Pūoro (Singing Māori Puppets)

James Webster
Hinemoa Jones

Individual Māori artists:

Maisey Rika (Music)
Neke Moa (Adornment)
Horomona Horo – Te Ao Tawhito, Te Ao Hou (Music)
Maureen Lander – Dancing Skirts (Raranga)
Reweti Arapere – Nga Tai Matarau a Kiwa (Visual Arts)
Robert Ruha – Pūmau Enduring Indigenous Messages (Music)
Te Kahu Rolleston – Te Raranga Kupu: The Woven Word (Spoken Word poetry)
Moanaroa Zagrobelna (Adornment)

Te Nii – Weaving, Binding, Sewing Carving (Visual Arts)

Christopher Charteris
Kaetaeta Watson
Lizzy Leckie

Fale Sā (Performance)

Maiava Nathaniel Lees
Tameka Sowman
Ula Buliruarua
Katerina Fatupaito
Ian Lesā

Resample Soundscape (Music)

Matthew Salapu
Junior Nanai
Tuki Laumea

Kula Uli – Indigenous Ink (Tattoo)

Terry Klavenes
Matiah Klavenes

Wairua (Moving Image/Sculpture)

Ioane Ioane
Tom Bogdanowicz

A/PART from AN/OTHER (Spoken Word/Movement)

Grace Taylor
Jahra Rager

Individual Pasifika artists:

Lisa Taouma – Adorn (Moving Image)
Karlo Mila-Schaaf – Mana Moana: Ancient source of contemporary flow (Poetry)
James Nokise – Big Words (Comedy)

Kapa Haka:

Te Whānau-Ā-Apanui

Image caption:

Works by the treasured late Māori clay artist Colleen Urlich. Left to right: Mana 1 – Dignitas (reflects the mana of the great navigator Kiwa, the eponymous ancestor of Te Moana Nui a Kiwa); Korowai – The Cloak; Ngā Tupuna 1 — The Ancestors (a tribute to ancient ancestors who explored the Pacific region and settled within Te Moana Nui a Kiwa). Image: Spirit Wrestler Gallery (Vancouver, Canada).