Nearly 200 rangatahi in Tāmaki Makaurau took the morning off school in late June to take part in Matariki 20x20 at the Corban Estate Arts Centre in Henderson.
Published: Tuesday, 4 July 2017 | Rātū, 04 Hōngongoi, 2017
Artist Natasha Keating, who makes contemporary pou from recycled kauri and rimu, was one of a handful of artists who gave fast-paced presentations to rangatahi at the event.
“It was about giving pearls of inspirational wisdom about art, about what we do, to inspire rangatahi about their creative options,” she said.
Natasha Keating before a crowd of tauira.
Ms Keating said Matariki is about coming together and opening doors for rangatahi and she welcomed the support from Te Puni Kōkiri to run the event.
"It was so grounded in tikanga and reo that it really presented strong and positive messages about being Māori.”
The rangatahi also heard upbeat presentations from other artists who specialise in stone carving, wood carving, aerosol street art, dance and videography.
Event manager Ruth Woodbury said funding from Te Puni Kōkiri enabled them to follow their protocols for manaakitanga, which brought the whole event together.
Ruth Woodbury
“For us, Matariki is the time to try to encourage people to pause and acknowledge their achievements,” she said.
“Exposing rangatahi to the arts during this time is going to give them different perspectives about their futures.”
Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Kotuku student Takiri Te Ata Tohe said the event was a good opportunity and she had a lot of fun.
“I liked to see how they achieve their purposes and how they got to their level,” she said.
The 12 year-old said having fun and being with whanau was a focus for her at Matariki.
Matariki celebrations are in full swing around the motu with more than 100 events being supported by Te Puni Kōkiri in 2017.
Here you’ll find some wonderful resources to celebrate Matariki: http://www.tetaurawhiri.govt.nz/assets/LanguageResources/MatarikiBooklet.pdf
http://www.vln.school.nz/pages/view/931066/matariki-resources