Talk: A Life by, with, and through the Maramataka

Sat 22 Jul 2023 2-3.30pm

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E tohu ana te Maramataka i ngā rangi whakahirahira me ngā kaupeka i te ao Māori. Ko tētahi wā whakahirahira ko te mārewatanga mai o Matariki, arā, ko te tohu tērā o te tau hou.

Piri mai ki tētahi taki kōrero, me ngā ringa toi, ngā mata auaha anō, arā, te hunga e whai pānga ana te Maramataka ki ō rātou ao, me ā rātou mahi. Ka matapaki rātou i tōna hiranga i Aotearoa, ā, he aha hoki te pānga o Matariki ki ō rātou hapori, ki ō rātou auahatanga.

The Maramataka (Māori lunar calendar) marks significant dates and seasons in te ao Māori. A time of special significance is the appearance of the Matariki star cluster, which marks the start of the new year.

Join us for an in-depth kōrero with Amiria Puia-Taylor (Ngaati Te Ata Waioohua, Ngaati Tiipa, Kuki Airani, Hamoa, Tahiti), Nikau Hindin (Ngai Tūpoto ki Motukaraka, Te Rarawa ki Hokianga, Ngāpuhi) and Chantel Matthews (Ngāti Hounuku, Ngāti Tahinga, Ngāti Ikaunahi, Tainui) who live by and whose work is informed by the Maramataka. They will discuss its importance in Aotearoa and what Matariki means to them in their communities and as creative individuals.

Date: Sat 22 Jul 2023
Location: Auditorium
Cost: Free

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Amiria Puia-Taylor (Ngaati Te Ata Waioohua, Ngaati Tiipa, Kuki Airani, Hamoa, Tahiti)

Born & raised between the cross cuts of Tāhuna Pā, Waiuku and Grey Lynn/Ponsonby, my whakapapa ties me to the heart of South Auckland. Te Hau tonga o Taamaki. A proud daughter of the Moana, I have been fortunate to shape a career as an interdisciplinary artist, an activist, a guardian and educator - practically doing what it takes to be a good tupuna. My practice has always been taiao (environment) focused and has woven between traditional and contemporary worlds, from land protections and occupying stolen land to durational performances to community murals, from graphic design for small community groups to holding architects and engineers to account to ensure our cultural narratives are meaningfully used throughout built environments.

From the guidance of Te Aho Matua and the embrace of my elders and their matauranga, I am committed to seeing our waterways return to the food bowls they once were for our people and ensuring people understand the significance of this land we call home.

I believe Art invites those who are brave enough to participate in hard conversations, to be challenged, to be exposed and educated on understanding the place we all choose to call home. Art creates opportunities for growth and empowerment for us all to do better. When we better understand the power of our ancient knowledge systems, we sooner we can begin to take better care of the little we have left. Maramataka is a start.

Image credit: Brendan Kitto

Nikau Hindin (Ngai Tūpoto ki Motukaraka, Te Rarawa ki Hokianga, Ngāpuhi)

Nikau Hindin is a barkcloth maker who works with aute (paper mulberry, Broussonetia papyrifera) and natural earth pigments. Nikau has spent most of the past decade dedicated to remembering and reinvigorating the practice of aute in Aotearoa. Her practice is devoted to the life cycle of the paper mulberry plant, from its growing to processing the inner bark into a fine white cloth. Working intimately with plants, Hindin aligns her practices with the Maramataka. Using earth pigments, Hindin inscribes her aute pieces with design systems that come from rectilinear whatu raranga and tukutuku patterns. Using this textile design framework Hindin developed her star maps which document the rising and setting of stars on the horizon and come from the navigational system of the star compass. She uses her maps as mnemonics to record the movement of stars in relation to the maramataka. Hindin has recently turned her attention to creating manu aute, kites that were once created from aute. This has been a long time aspiration to materialise this taonga tuku iho.

Nikau is also teaching this knowledge to a new generation of makers and has great hopes and aspirations for the practice of aute in te ao Māori. Her apprenticeship program Te Uru Aute with Rongomai Grbic-Hoskins (Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa, Ngātiwai) was about succession planning for aute and the laying the tuakana teina foundations for the practice.

Hindin has been included in a number of notable exhibitions, including O Quilombismo, House of World Cultures, Berlin, 2023, Manu Aute: Rere Runga Hau, Season Gallery, Auckland, 2022; Still Alive, Aichi Triennale, Tokoname, Japan, 2022; Walls to Live Behind, Rooms to Own, Auckland Art Gallery, 2022; Kōkōrangi ki

Kōkōwai, Hastings City Gallery, (travelling solo produced by The Dowse) 2019–22. Kathmandu Triennale 2077, 2020 and Koloa: Women, Art, and Technology at Para Site, Hong Kong. Recent publications include: Te Uru Aute (co-edited with Rongomai Grbic-Hoskins, 2022). Hindin was also a contributor to the 2019 publication ‘Crafting Aotearoa: A Cultural History of Making in New Zealand and the Wider Moana Oceania’, edited by Karl Chitham, Kolokesa Māhina-Tuai and Damian Skinner (an image of her work also features on the cover). Hindin’s works are in the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki collection. Hindin has studied at the Elam School of Fine Arts, the University of Hawaii and Toihoukura, and is currently based in Turanga/Gisborne.

Chantel Matthews (Ngāti Hounuku, Ngāti Tahinga, Ngāti Ikaunahi, Tainui)

Chantel Matthews, Conceptual artist, writer and curator. Of Māori and English descent, her artworks can be described as sculptural moments inspired by the ‘everyday’ whilst exploring her own subjectivity as a woman, mother, artist and wahine Māori. With a particular interest in how women/wāhine hold space, Chantel’s art /curatorial practice conceptually explores whanaungatanga (working together/relationship through shared experiences) and manaakitanga (supporting others) through kai kōrero, wānanga and collaboration. Works and resides in Tamaki Makaurau, Aotearoa, New Zealand (Ngāti Hounuku, Ngāti Tahinga, Ngāti Ikaunahi, Tainui)

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