Whānau Mārama
Ka tā te Whānau Mārama he whakahuihui i ngā ringatoi Māori me ngā kairangahau i raro i ngā whetū e iwa o te kāhui o Matariki ki te whakawhānui i te māramatanga ngātahi o te tauhou Māori. Ka whakaaturia ngā mahi puta noa i te takiwā o Commercial Bay, otirā ka whakaata ngā mahi toi i te mātauranga taketake o te māramatanga, me te oranga, te maumahara ki ngā kōrero tuku iho, te tuhi i ngā kōrero onāianei, me te whakaata hou i te ao e whanake mai ana. Hei kāhui, hei mahere, ko ngā mahi a ngā ringatoi he ārahi i a tātou ki tētahi Anamata Iwi Taketake.
Whānau Mārama gathers together Māori artists and researchers under the nine whetū of Matariki to deepen collective understanding of the Māori new year. Presented throughout the Commercial Bay precinct, the artworks reflect Indigenous ways of knowing and being, remembering histories, documenting the present, and re-imagining the world to come. As a cluster, as a map, the artists and works guide us towards an Indigenous Future.
Ngā Ringatoi – Artists
Maungarongo Ron Te Kawa
x Season

E whakaatu ana a Maungarongo Ron Te Kawa (Ngāti Porou) i a Heavenly Bodies, he whakaaturanga takitahi i te taiwhanga toi o Season

Ko Heavenly Bodies he whakaaturanga takitahi o ngā papangarua hou e tohu ana i ngā whetū e iwa o Matariki.  E kī ana te ringatoi: "Ko te wāhi houkura rawa ki a au, ko te rewa i te rangi, te pāinaina ana i te tīahotanga hahana, whakaora hoki o ngā whetu. Ko te rite o te ngoi e tukuna mai ana e Matariki ki a Papatūānuku i ngā wā o te hē, he rite ki te ngoi e rere ana me he wai i ōku tīpuna ki ahau. Ko taku tatanga ki taua wāhi houkura, moemoeā nei i tēnei whenua, ko te wā e waihanga ana au. Ko ngā kongakonga me ngā maramara ka whakawhitia hei papanga newanewa me te kiri mahana."

Haere ki Season e pārekareka ai koe ki a Heavenly Bodies me te hanga i tāu ake toi mā ngā pukapuka karakara a Te Kawa, he mea kawe ki a koe nā ringatoi me Objectspace, Tāmaki Makaurau.Ko Hinetakurua tētahi toi puni ā-papanga nā Maungarongo Ron Te Kawa (Ngāti Porou) otirā i iri ana i te arahīkoi o Commercial Bay.


Titiro whakarunga mai i te Papatū, piki whakarunga rānei ki te Papa 1, Papa 2 rānei ki te kite i a Hinetakurua me tōna ātaahua. Ko te kōrero a Te Kawa: "He tipuna nō tātou a Hinetakurua, ko ia te whetū ka whakamuramura i te rangi pōuri o te takurua. I tērā tau, nā te roa o taku haere i runga i te huarahi, ka noho ko ia taku hoa pūmau. I te mutunga o te takurua, ka peke a Hinetakurua ki tua o te marama, ka huri hei tīramaramatanga i runga i te moana. Ko tā Hinetakurua he kawe mai i te raneatanga, te hari me te mahanatanga."

He ringatoa, he pūkōrero, he kaituitui papanga, ā, he kaihoahoa kākahu a Te Kawa. Ko tāna whakaaturanga o nā tata nei, ko Hinātore: A Time and Place to Rest, i whakaaturia ki Objectspace, Tāmaki Makaurau me CoCA Toi Moroki i Ōtautahi.

Maungarongo Ron Te Kawa (Ngāti Porou) presents Heavenly Bodies, a solo show at contemporary art gallery Season.

Heavenly Bodies is a solo exhibition of new quilt works representing the nine whetū of Matariki. The artist notes: “My most ultimate happy place would be floating in the sky, bathing in warm, healing starlight. The energy that the Matariki stars sing down to Papatūānuku in her most desolate time is the same energy that flows like water from my tīpuna to me. The closest I can get to that wonderful, dreamy place here on earth is when I am making. The unwanted and discarded is transformed into a world of soft materials and warm skin.”

Visit Season to enjoy Heavenly Bodies and create your own art with Te Kawa’s colouring books, courtesy of the artist and Objectspace, Tāmaki Makaurau.


Hinetakarua, a textile-based installation by Maungarongo Ron Te Kawa (Ngāti Porou) is suspended in the Commercial Bay laneway.

Look up from the Ground Floor or go higher to Level 1 or Level 2 to view Hinetakarua in all her glory. Te Kawa comments: “Hinetakarua, our ancestor, is the star who lights up the dark winter sky. Last year, I spent so much time on the road that she became my constant companion. At the end of winter, Hinetakarua dives over the moon and transforms into sparkly light on the ocean waters. Hinetakarua brings abundance, dance, and warmth.”

Te Kawa is an artist, storyteller, quilter, and fashion designer. His recent exhibition, Hīnātore: A Time and Place to Rest, was exhibited at both Objectspace, Tāmaki Makaurau, and CoCA Centre of Contemporary Art Toi Moroki in Ōtautahi.

Neke Moa
x Aotea

Ka urupare a Neke Moa (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Tahu/Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Tūwharetoa) ki a Aotea mā āna mahi tārai, whakarākei hoki.

Ko Tama Toki (Ngāti Wai, Ngāpuhi), te tangata nāna a Aotearoa i tīmata, otirā he ōrite ōna tikanga ki ō Moa, ā, e tino ū ana ki te toha i te mātauranga Iwi Taketake mā roto i tō rātou hononga ki a Papatūānuku. I roto i te toa, ka whakaatu a Moa i ngā mahi hou, pēnei i Te Ara o Rangitoto, he momo whakarākei mō te tinana me te pakitara ā-whare. E kī ana ia:

"He mea whakaawe tēnei mahi i taku haerenga ki Takapuna me te noho me Jade Townsend i tātahi. I te mea i whānau mai ai i raro i Rangitoto, he hokinga whakamuri mōku. E kitea ana a Rangitoto i konei me ētahi anga pipi mai i te one. E kitea ana ngā tae ātaahua o ngā tōnga, ngā porowhita hiwa me te one konupora pango. Ko te kaupapa o te mahi, ko te ara, te ara ki te tihi o Rangitoto mai i raro, me te hāpai i a Rangitoto hei motu e kitea ana i uta, ā, hei taonga, hei rangatira hoki o tēnei takutai."

Ko te pounamu, te anga me ētahi atu rauemi i takea i te rohe ngā tino taonga a Moa. Ka tūhura tana tikanga mahi hei kaihanga whakarākei i te whakapapa o ngā rauemi, otirā ka miramira i te mahi a ngā taonga whakarākei ki te hanga i te wairua toiwhenua ki te tangata, me te wāhi.

Neke Moa (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Tahu/Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Tūwharetoa) responds to Aotea through sculptural and adornment work.

Tama Toki (Ngāti Wai, Ngāpuhi), founder of Aotea, and Moa share common rituals and an on-going commitment to Indigenous knowledge sharing through their relationship to Papatūānuku (Mother Earth). Within the store, Moa exhibits new works, including Te Ara o Rangitoto, an adornment piece for both the body and the whare wall. She notes:

“This work has been inspired by my visit to Takapuna and staying with Jade Townsend at the beach. Having been born under Rangitoto, it was a bit of a journey back for me. Rangitoto is seen here with some pipi shells off the beach. They have the beautiful colours of sunsets, dark rings, black magnesium soil. The work is about the ara, the journey up to Rangitoto from beneath, and uplifting Rangitoto as the motu that is seen from the coast, and as a taonga and rangatira of this coastline.”

Moa primarily works with pounamu, shell, and other locally sourced materials. Her practice as a jeweller and carver explores the whakapapa of materials, emphasising the role of body adornment in creating a sense of belonging to people and place.

Arielle Walker & Emily Parr
x twenty-seven names

Ko Arielle Walker (Taranaki, Ngāruahine, Ngāpuhi, Pākehā) rāua ko Emily Parr (Ngāi Te Rangi, Moana, Pākehā) e whakaatu ana i Haratua i twenty-seven names. Ka kitea ngā weu ataata me ngā weu waitae ā-tipu i te matapihi whakaatu, otirā e tauutuutu ana ki ngā whakaata o te rūma.

Ka whai a Haratua i te huringa marama o te Maramataka. Ka tīmata, ka mutu hoki i te kōhititanga marama, otirā ka whakawhiti ngā ringatoi i tētahi 'reta' ataata i ia rua rā.  Nā aua whakawhitinga ka noho tūhonohono tonu ngā hoa e rua i te tatanga ki te mutunga o te tau Māori, ā, i te potonga o te rā i te wā e tāria ana ngā marama o te takurua. Ko nga weu, i tāwaitia e ki nga tipu i kohia i te wā o te raumati, me ngā ataata, ka noho i roto i te mīharotanga ka kitea i te rangapūtanga me te taiao. Ka whai ngā mahinga toi i a Matariki me te pūmautanga hou ki ngā tikanga tīpuna me ngā pūnaha mātauranga, ka tau ki ngā ia me ngā huringa o te ao Māori.

Kei Tāmaki Makaurau te ringatoi nei a Walker e noho ana, otirā he kaituhi, he kaiwaihanga hoki. Kātahi anō ka oti i a ia tana Tohu Paerua Toi Ataata i Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makaurau, otirā e rapu ana i ngā huarahi ki te toiwhenuatanga tauutuutu mā ngā pūtahitanga o te whenua, te reo, te toi, te aro ki ngā pūrākau ringapā me ngā kōrero tīpuna.

He ringatoi hoki a Parr e noho ana i Tāmaki Makaurau. Ko tāna he raranga i ngā kōrero ki ngā ata nekeneke, otirā ka tūhura āna tikanga mahi i ngā hononga i waenga i te tangata, ngā pou tarāwaho tōrangapū, te whenua me te moana. Ko āna mahi rangahau o te wā nei o ngā hononga i waenga i ngā tāngata whai me ngā Māori o Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, ka whakawhiti i ngā moana me ngā rautau, ki te rapu i ngā kōrero i ngā pūranga kōrero me ngā wai o ngā haerenga ki ngā whenua tīpuna.

Arielle Walker (Taranaki, Ngāruahine, Ngāpuhi, Pākehā) and Emily Parr (Ngāi Te Rangi, Moana, Pākehā) exhibit Haratua at twenty-seven names. Video and plant-dyed fibres can be seen in the window display with poetic exchanges on the changing room mirrors.

Haratua follows a lunar cycle in the Maramataka. Beginning and ending with the new moon, the artists exchange a video ‘letter’ on alternating days. The exchanges keep two friends connected as the Māori year comes to a close and the days grow shorter in anticipation of the winter months. The fibres, dyed with plants gathered during raumati, and the videos revel in the magic to be found in friendship and te taiao. The artworks approach Matariki with a renewed commitment to ancestral practices and knowledge systems, falling into the rhythms and cycles of te ao Māori.

Walker is a Tāmaki Makaurau-based artist, writer, and maker. Having recently completed a Master of Visual Arts at Auckland University of Technology, she seeks pathways towards reciprocal belonging through the intersections of land, language, and craft, focusing on tactile storytelling and ancestral narratives.

Parr is an artist also living in Tāmaki Makaurau. Weaving stories with moving images, her practice explores relationships between people, political frameworks, whenua, and moana. Her current research on settler–Indigenous relationships of Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa traverses oceans and centuries, seeking stories in archives and waters on haerenga (journey) to ancestral homelands.

Heidi Brickell
x Wynn Hamlyn

Ka whakaatu a Heidi Brickell (Te Hika o Pāpāuma, Ngāti Apakura, Ngāti Kahungunu, Rongomaiwahine, Rangitāne) i ngā pikitia ki Wynn Hamlyn.

He tino whirinaki ngā mahi a Heidi Brickell i Wynn Hamlyn ki ngā tukanga paparanga, me te whakauru i te kiri rāpeti, ngā kongakonga me ngā aho o te kānawehi, me te huahua o ngā tae. Ka nuku, ka neke hoki ngā tae me ngā āhua, ka whakakaha, ka mōnehunehu, ka neke i waenga i ngā ao o te wheako hāngai me te pohewatanga. E kī ana te ringatoi, "E kaingākau ana ahau ki te korihitanga o ngā reo ka whakamahia e tātou ki te tiri i ngā wheako, tae atu ki ngā wheako kāore anō i hopukina, ka rere mā roto i aua kupenga."

Kei Tāmaki Makaurau a Brickell e noho ana, otirā e mahi ana ia i te mātauranga me te whakarauora reo Māori. E poua ana āna tikanga toi i te taha hinengaro, otirā e whai mōhio ana i tāna mīharotanga ki te reo - he mea hanga nā te tangata e āhei ai, e puta ai te whakawhitiwhiti, i te wā hoki e tohua ana e te rehurehutanga.

Heidi Brickell (Te Hika o Pāpāuma, Ngāti Apakura, Ngāti Kahungunu, Rongomaiwahine, Rangitāne) exhibits paintings at Wynn Hamlyn.

Heidi Brickell’s works at Wynn Hamlyn are deeply dependent on processes of layering, incorporating rabbit skin size, pieces and threads of canvas, and a range of pigments. Colours and forms slip and slide, strengthen and dissipate, moving between the realms of direct experience and the imagination. The artist notes, “I am interested in the chorus of languages we use to share in experiences, as well as the uncaptured experience that flows through those nets.”

Brickell is based in Tāmaki Makaurau, where she works in education and te reo Māori revitalisation. Her art practice is grounded in the psychological and informed by her fascination with language—a human creation that enables or facilitates exchange, while also being marked by imprecision.

Angela Morton Room
x cabinets

E whakaatu ana te Angela Morton Room o Te Whare Pukapuka o Takapuna i tētahi kohinga pukapuka i rō kāpata i Commercial Bay.

He nui ngā pukapuka Māori me ētahi atu rauemi tā hei pārekarekatanga i konei, i ahu mai i te Angela Morton Room Te Pātai Toi Art Library i tētahi whakaaturanga tūmatanui mīharo. He mea whakaawe ēnei kōwhiringa e ngā whakaaturanga toi Māori tuatahi pēnei i: Te Maōri (1984), te wā tuatahi i hau te rongo o te toi Māori ki te ao; Te Aho Tapu (1988), he whakaaturanga o ngā kākahu Māori puiaki; me Korurangi: New Maōri Art (1993), he whakaaturanga ā-rōpū nui.

He mea tīmata te Angela Morton Room i te Whare Pukapuka o Takapuna i te tau 1985, nā runga i te tukunga a te whānau o Angela Morton, otirā kua tipu hei pūranga toi nui mā ngā ringatoi, ngā kaiwaihanga, ngā ākonga, ngā kairangahau me ngā apataki toi. Kei te takiwā o te 1800 pukapuka mō te peita me ngā kaipeita anake, otirā me te huhua o ngā pukapuka motuhake o te tango whakaahua, te whakairo, te matapaia, te papanga, te hanga tā, te tāraitanga, te toi puni, te tā moko me ngā pukapuka toi whānui.

The Angela Morton Room of Takapuna Library presents a collection of pukapuka in the cabinets at Commercial Bay.

A range of Māori art books and other printed materials from the Angela Morton Room Te Pātaka Toi Art Library can be enjoyed here in a special public display. The selection has been inspired by exhibition firsts in Māori art including: Te Maōri (1984), the first time Māori art was brought to international attention; Te Aho Tapu (1988), an exhibition of prized cloaks; and Korurangi: New Maōri Art (1993), a major contemporary group show.

Takapuna Library’s Angela Morton Room was founded in 1985, with a bequest from the family of Angela Morton, and has grown into a well-resourced art library for artists and makers, students, researchers, and art lovers. There are around 1800 pukapuka on painting and painters alone, plus a large range of specialist books on photography, carving, ceramics, textiles, printmaking, sculpture, installation art, tā moko and tattooing, and book arts.

Te Ara Minhinnick
x Yu Mei

Ka whakaaturia e Te Ara Minhinnick (Ngāti TeAta) a Mō Rātou Mā, he tāraitanga, hemahi oro hoki i Yu Mei.

Ko Mō Rātou Mā he kōpū tāraitanga, e tōpunitia anaki ngā tangi o ngā reanga e toru o ngā wāhine e taki waiata ana (waiata tangi).E akiakihia ana te iwi tūmatanui ki te kuhu atu ki te toa kia āta kite i ngāmahi nei. Ka kōrero ia mō āna tikanga toi, 'He tīmata me taku kuia i tanapakanga i tōna oranga katoa, otirā he huarahi ki te ako i taua whakapapa, tehītori o ngā kōrero ... He mea whai mōhio aku mahi e te Maramataka, arā temaramataka taiao, he huarahi o te whai raupapa e hāngai ana ki te taiao."

He ringatoi maea a Minhinnick. Ko āna mahi toihe 'waka kimiara' ki te ao o te mātauranga Māori i ēnei rā. I te wā o WhānauMārama, ka noho ia hei kaiārahi, e noho ana ki te taiwhanga toi o Season, ki tetuku mōhiotanga ki ngā manuhiri katoa me te whakahaere tāwhiotanga ki te reoMāori.

Te Ara Minhinnick (Ngāti Te Ata) exhibits Mō Rātou Mā, a sculpture and audio work at Yu Mei.

Mō Rātou Mā is a sculptural womb, imbued with the tangi (sound) of three generations of wāhine reciting waiata (lamenting songs). The public are encouraged to enter the store and experience the work up close. She talks of her practice, ‘It kind of started with my nan and her fight for her whole life basically and it’s a way for me to learn that whakapapa or that history of stories… My work is informed by the Maramataka, which is the taio calender or a way of keeping time that aligns with the environment.”

Minhinnick is an early-career artist. Her works exist as ‘wayfinding vessels’ into the present-day realities of mātauranga Māori. During Whānau Mārama, she will be acting as a guide, based at contemporary art gallery Season, providing information to all visitors and conducting tours in te reo Māori.

Lissy & Rudi Robinson-Cole
x Kate Spade

Ka whakahaeretia e Lissy (Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Kahu) rāua ko Rudi Robinson-Cole (Ngāruahine, Ngāti Tū, Ngāti Paoa, Waikato) ngā matapihi o Kate Spade me ā rāua tāraitanga.

He hoa mārena te tokorua nei a Lissy rāua ko Rudi, e kawe ana i te hari me te mīharotanga ki ā rātou mahi toi tui māwhaiwhai, otirā e tohu ana te māwhaiwhai ā-tuitui i ō rāua wairua muramura. E rua ngā tinana e tū ana i muri i te matapihi. Ko Hine-tūrama te atua nāna i hanga nga whetū. Ka aro tātou ki a ia hei whakawhānui i tō tātou aronga o te ao tukupū me ōna hiranga, ōna āheinga katoa hoki. Ko Urutengangana te atua o te aho mārama. Ko ia te mātāmua o ngā tamariki a Ranginui rāua ko Papatūānuku.

Ko Hine-tūrama rāua ko Urutengangana he wāhanga o tētahi kaupapa nui ake, arā ko Wharenui Harikoa, otirā ka huri taiāwhio i te ao ina oti ana. Ko te kōrero a te tokorua, "Ko Wharenui Harikoa he poro whaka hakoko. Ko Uenuku tawhana ki te Rangi. Wharenui Harikoa  he poro whakahakoko o te tūrama i whakawetia e ngā tīpuna, ka tīaho puta noa i te rangi ānō nei he āniwaniwa.  Ko tā Wharenui Harikoa he whakaumu i te mamaetanga kohuki tuku iho ki tētahi koromeke kotahi o te manahau hōhonu, e tūhono ana i ngā tāngata katoa me te whakaoho i te manamanahau huri i te ao."

Lissy (Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Kahu) and Rudi Robinson-Cole (Ngāruahine, Ngāti Tū, Ngāti Paoa, Waikato) take over the windows of Kate Spade with their sculptures.

Husband and wife duo Lissy and Rudi bring joy and wonder through their crochet-based art, the interlocking of crochet symbolises their vibrant wairua (spirit). Behind glass stand two figures. Hine-tūrama is the goddess who created the stars. We look to her to expand our awareness of the universe and its wonders and possibilities. Urutengangana is the god of light. He is the firstborn of the children of Ranginui and Papatūānuku.

Hine-tūrama and Urutengangana are components of a larger project, Wharenui Harikoa, which will tour globally when complete. The couple comment, “Ko Wharenui Harikoa he poro whaka hakoko. Ko Uenuku tawhana ki te Rangi. Wharenui Harikoa is a refracting prism of tūpuna-inspired light that shines across the sky like a rainbow. Wharenui Harikoa is transforming intergenerational trauma into deeply felt joy one loop at a time, connecting all people and igniting joy globally.”

Bobby Luke
Ringatoi ā-noho — Artist-in-residence

He ringatoi ā-noho a Bobby Luke (Ngāti Ruanui, Taranaki) he kaihautū hoki mā NOOK, otirā he whare huatau i mua, engari ināianei kua tohia ki ngā kākahu rerehua wetetāmi, hei whakamana i ngā wāhine i tō rātou mana ake, ā, ki te whakaawe hoki i te auahatanga mā te hoahoa kakare me ngā tuhinga o mua.

He ringatoi toirau a Luke, ko āna mahi i mua ko te hanga kākahu, papanga, tango whakaahua me ngā ata nekeneke. He Kaihoahoa Kākahu Māori ia mā tōna ake umanga kākahu a Campbell Luke, otirā he Pouako Hoahoa Māori ia i Wellington Faculty of Architecture and Design Innovation. Mo te roanga o Te Whānau Mārama, kua pōwhiritia e ia ngā ringatoi me ngā kaihoahoa kia noho atu mai i te Tāite - Rātapu mai i te 11am ki te 3pm. E wātea ana ki te iwi tūmatanui te kuhu atu me te tiro i ngā hanganga toi, te whiu pātai me te ako i ngā mahi a Luke.

Dr Bobby Luke (Ngāti Ruanui, Taranaki) is artist-in-residence and kaihautū for Kākahu Hou: The Breath of Cloth at NOOK, once a styling suite, now dedicated to decolonising fashion aesthetics, to empower women in their individuality and inspire creativity through sentimental design and articles of our past.

Luke is an interdisciplinary practitioner with a background in fashion, textile, photography, and moving image. He is a Māori Fashion Designer for his own label Campbell Luke, and a Māori Design Lecturer at Wellington Faculty of Architecture and Design Innovation. For the duration of Whānau Mārama, he has invited artists and designers to hold the space Thursday - Sunday from 11am to 3pm. The public are welcome to come inside and observe the art objects, ask questions and learn about Luke’s work.

T-shirts x Kōkako

He toi puni o ngā tīhāte tauira Māori ki Kōkako.

Ko Kōkako he wāhi o ngā kawenga o ia rā, e tū mai ai te hapori o Commercial Bay - te hunga e mahi ana i te takiwā me te hunga toro mai - ki te inu i tētahi o ngā momo kawhe reka. Mō Whānau Mārama 2022 e tūhono tonu ana a Kōkako hei wāhi whakaaturanga. E rārangi mai ana ngā tīhāte tauira Māori i te pakitara o muri, koinā te wāhi e whakairi ai ngā kiritaki i ō rātou koti me ngā pēke. Me pēhea e kawea ai ngā karere me ngā waitohu waiwai ki ngā mokowā, ngā wāhi kawe ritenga rānei o tō ao? Kimihia he rau mōhiohio o ngā taipitopito ringatoi me te kaupapa o ngā hoahoatanga. 

An installation of Māori-designed t-shirts at Kōkako.

Kōkako is a site of daily rituals where the Commercial Bay community – those who work in the area and those who come to visit – will stop to enjoy one of their delicious coffee blends. For Whānau Mārama 2022 Kōkako continues to partner as an exhibition site. Māori designed t-shirts line the back wall, it is where customers might normally put their own coats or bags. How can you bring vital messages and motifs into the spaces or places of ritual in your life? Look for an information sheet that has the artists details and kaupapa of the designs.

Stevei Houkāmau
x The Gentry

Ko Stevei Houkāmau (Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui,Pākehā) e whakaatu ana i ngā tāraitanga uku i The Gentry.

I āna whakarōpūtanga mahi, kawhakamahia e Houkāmau he momo reo ataata whānui ki te whakawaehere i temātauranga me te whakapapa hei uku. Ko ngā whakairo me ngā tānga e mau tonu anai tāna tāera ake. Otirā he whakamāoritanga o te tā moko me te tatau. Kawhakaōritetia ngā tohu, ka whakakotahitia rānei ki te rere o te āhua, tetinana, te ipu o te uku rānei. He aronga reretahi i waenga i ngā ringa oHoukāmau me tana ahuahu anō i a Papatūānuku.

He mea whānau, whakatipu hoki aHoukāmau i Porirua. I te tau 2011, i whakauru ia ki tētahi Tohu Toi o ngā Rangii Toihoukura. I whakaaro ia ki te whakauru ake ki te kaupapa tā moko, engari iwhanaketia kētia e ia tana kaingākau ki te uku mai i a Wī Taepa rātou ko BayeRiddell, ko Mano Nathan o Ngā Kaihanga Uku, he huinga o ngā kaimahi uku Māori.

Stevei Houkāmau (Ngāti Porou, TeWhānau-ā-Apanui, Scotland) presents uku sculptures at The Gentry.

In his group of works, Houkāmauemploys a wide range of visual languages to encode knowledge and genealogy asuku. The surface carvings and drawings are in her signature style. They are translationsof tā moko and tātau. The marks are matched-up or united with the directions andflow of the clay form, body, or container. There is a palpable harmony between thehands of Houkāmau and her reforming of Papatūānuku.

Houkamau was born and raised inPorirua. In 2011, she enrolled in a Bachelor of Māori Visual Arts at Toihoukura.Planning to enter the tā moko programme, she instead developed her love for ukufrom Wi Taepa, Baye Riddell, and the late Manos Nathan of Ngā Kaihanga Uku, a collectiveof Māori clay workers.

Kayley Ngawati & Āio Mataira-Whare & Hana Tuwhare
x Ahi

Kua oti i a Kayley Ngawati (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Tonga)

i a Āio Mataira-Whare (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu, Raukawa, Ngāpuhi)

me Hana Tuwhare (Ngāpuhi) ētahi rotarota te tito mā te wharekai o Ahi.


“He hoa mātou e tuhi rotarota ana mai i tērā tau. He whakatōpūtanga mātou o ngā wāhine Māori kua roa e tuhi rotarota ana ki te reo Māori me te reo Ingarihi mai i te 2021."

He mea kapo ake ngā kupu o ēnei rotarota o Matariki i tētahi pō e tirotiro haere ana, e hongihongi haere ana, e whāwhā haere ana, e rongo ana i te kakara hoki o Ahi.

"I te aranga mai o Matariki me āna tamariki tokowaru i te pae o takurua i te ata hāpara, ka tohu i te tauhou Māori. Ka hauhaketia ā mātou kai, kua kī ngā rua, ā, kāore i nui ngā mahi. Ka whakakotahi tātou, ki te whai whakaaro, ki te rongo i te mahana o ētahi atu me te kai tahi ki te makuru o te kai."

E whakanui ana ngā rotarota i ō tātou whetū e iwa i te kāhui, engari ko te aronga nui ki ngā tamariki e whā a Matariki e whai hononga ana ki te kai mai i ngā awa, te moana, ngā māra me te rangi o Aotearoa.

Kayley Ngawati (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Tonga)

Āio Mataira-Whare (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu, Raukawa, Ngāpuhi)

Hana Tuwhare (Ngāpuhi) have created poems for Ahi restaurant.


“He hoa mātou e tuhi rotarota ana mai i tērā tau. We are a collective of wāhine Māori that have been writing poetry together in te reo Māori and English since 2021.”

The words for these Matariki poems were captured during an evening taking in the sights, smells, textures and flavors of Ahi.

When Matariki and her eight children rise over the winter horizon in the early morning, they mark the Māori new year. Our crops are harvested, our food stores are full and there is little work to be done. We come together, reflect, revel in each other’s company and share in an abundance of kai. 

The poems pay homage to our nine stars in the cluster, but in particular to four of Matariki’s children who are associated with kai from the rivers, oceans, gardens and skies of Aotearoa.

Jade Townsend
Kairauhī — Curator

He ringatoi ataata a Jade Townsend (Ngāti Kahungunu) e mahi ana i te pūtahitanga o ōna kāwai Māori, Ingarihi hoki. Ko tana whakamārama mō tōna ake tuakiri "he kārure ita-kore ka neke i roto anō i ngā piki me heke o ngā tōpana ahurea taupatupatu." I whānau mai, ā, i tipu mai hoki ia i Whanganui i mua o te hūnukutanga ki Liverpool i Ingarangi, otirā te wāhi tērā o tana ohinga. Nā te rongo a Townsend i te whānuitanga o ngā momo mita, reo ā-iwi, ngā kīwaha ā-rohe me ngā pūrākau,  Ko tāna aronga ko te hanga i ngā hanganga toi ā-tōrangapū, ā-pāpori e whakaatu ana i ngā āwangawanga me ngā wawata paetata, i te wā e whakamihi ana ki te āhua tuatini o te momorua ā-ahurea.

Jade Townsend (Ngāti Kahungunu) is a visual artist working at the intersection of her Māori and British heritage. She describes her identity as a “non-fixed duality that moves within the ebbs and flows of contradictory cultural forces”. She was born and raised in Whanganui before moving to Liverpool in the United Kingdom, where she spent her teenage years. Townsend’s exposure to a wide range of accents, dialects, regional slang, folktales, and pūrākau made her aware of the limitations of translation. She is interested in creating politically and socially minded art objects that speak to local concerns and aspirations whilst acknowledging the complex nature of cultural hybridity.

Liv Stewart
Kaitiaki — Host

He uri a Liv Stewart o Ngāti Manu, rātou ko Ngā Puhi, ko Ngāti Pākehā hoki. E rua ōna paetohu tahi, arā ko te BA me te BFA. Ko te toi Māori, ko te rāranga, me te whatu ōna kaupapa rangahau.

”Nōku te whiwhi ki te whai wāhi ki Te Whānau Mārama i tēnei tau, waihoki, ki te tū hei kaitiaki ki ēnei taonga. Ko tōku kaingākau ko ngā toi Māori o te Ao hurihuri nā te mea e kawe ana ngā ringatoi-ō-naianei i ō tatou pūrakau kua heke mai i ō tatou whakapapa. He wā whakatairanga i ō-tātou Māoritanga ki tēnei whenua ahurei, a Aotearoa, a Matariki.”

Liv Stewart (Ngāti Manu, Ngāpuhi, Pākehā) has a BA and BFA (Hons) from the University of Auckland, where she focused her research on Toi Māori, raranga and whatu. 

"I am so honoured to be a kaitiaki for these taonga and part of the Whānau Mārama whānau this year. For me, contemporary Māori toi tells our stories: our past, our present and our future. Celebrating our whakapapa, our Tūpuna and the stories passed down through generations. Matariki is the perfect time to remember these stories and celebrate Māoritanga and Aotearoa together."

Maungarongo Ron Te Kawa
Neke Moa
Arielle Walker & Emily Parr
Heidi Brickell
Angela Morton Room
Te Ara Minhinnick
Lissy & Rudi Robinson-Cole
Bobby Luke
T-shirts x Kōkako
Stevei Houkāmau
Kayley Ngawati & Āio Mataira-Whare & Hana Tuwhare
Jade Townsend
Liv Stewart
Maungarongo Ron Te Kawa
x Season

E whakaatu ana a Maungarongo Ron Te Kawa (Ngāti Porou) i a Heavenly Bodies, he whakaaturanga takitahi i te taiwhanga toi o Season

Ko Heavenly Bodies he whakaaturanga takitahi o ngā papangarua hou e tohu ana i ngā whetū e iwa o Matariki.  E kī ana te ringatoi: "Ko te wāhi houkura rawa ki a au, ko te rewa i te rangi, te pāinaina ana i te tīahotanga hahana, whakaora hoki o ngā whetu. Ko te rite o te ngoi e tukuna mai ana e Matariki ki a Papatūānuku i ngā wā o te hē, he rite ki te ngoi e rere ana me he wai i ōku tīpuna ki ahau. Ko taku tatanga ki taua wāhi houkura, moemoeā nei i tēnei whenua, ko te wā e waihanga ana au. Ko ngā kongakonga me ngā maramara ka whakawhitia hei papanga newanewa me te kiri mahana."

Haere ki Season e pārekareka ai koe ki a Heavenly Bodies me te hanga i tāu ake toi mā ngā pukapuka karakara a Te Kawa, he mea kawe ki a koe nā ringatoi me Objectspace, Tāmaki Makaurau.Ko Hinetakurua tētahi toi puni ā-papanga nā Maungarongo Ron Te Kawa (Ngāti Porou) otirā i iri ana i te arahīkoi o Commercial Bay.


Titiro whakarunga mai i te Papatū, piki whakarunga rānei ki te Papa 1, Papa 2 rānei ki te kite i a Hinetakurua me tōna ātaahua. Ko te kōrero a Te Kawa: "He tipuna nō tātou a Hinetakurua, ko ia te whetū ka whakamuramura i te rangi pōuri o te takurua. I tērā tau, nā te roa o taku haere i runga i te huarahi, ka noho ko ia taku hoa pūmau. I te mutunga o te takurua, ka peke a Hinetakurua ki tua o te marama, ka huri hei tīramaramatanga i runga i te moana. Ko tā Hinetakurua he kawe mai i te raneatanga, te hari me te mahanatanga."

He ringatoa, he pūkōrero, he kaituitui papanga, ā, he kaihoahoa kākahu a Te Kawa. Ko tāna whakaaturanga o nā tata nei, ko Hinātore: A Time and Place to Rest, i whakaaturia ki Objectspace, Tāmaki Makaurau me CoCA Toi Moroki i Ōtautahi.

Maungarongo Ron Te Kawa (Ngāti Porou) presents Heavenly Bodies, a solo show at contemporary art gallery Season.

Heavenly Bodies is a solo exhibition of new quilt works representing the nine whetū of Matariki. The artist notes: “My most ultimate happy place would be floating in the sky, bathing in warm, healing starlight. The energy that the Matariki stars sing down to Papatūānuku in her most desolate time is the same energy that flows like water from my tīpuna to me. The closest I can get to that wonderful, dreamy place here on earth is when I am making. The unwanted and discarded is transformed into a world of soft materials and warm skin.”

Visit Season to enjoy Heavenly Bodies and create your own art with Te Kawa’s colouring books, courtesy of the artist and Objectspace, Tāmaki Makaurau.


Hinetakarua, a textile-based installation by Maungarongo Ron Te Kawa (Ngāti Porou) is suspended in the Commercial Bay laneway.

Look up from the Ground Floor or go higher to Level 1 or Level 2 to view Hinetakarua in all her glory. Te Kawa comments: “Hinetakarua, our ancestor, is the star who lights up the dark winter sky. Last year, I spent so much time on the road that she became my constant companion. At the end of winter, Hinetakarua dives over the moon and transforms into sparkly light on the ocean waters. Hinetakarua brings abundance, dance, and warmth.”

Te Kawa is an artist, storyteller, quilter, and fashion designer. His recent exhibition, Hīnātore: A Time and Place to Rest, was exhibited at both Objectspace, Tāmaki Makaurau, and CoCA Centre of Contemporary Art Toi Moroki in Ōtautahi.

Neke Moa
x Aotea

Ka urupare a Neke Moa (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Tahu/Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Tūwharetoa) ki a Aotea mā āna mahi tārai, whakarākei hoki.

Ko Tama Toki (Ngāti Wai, Ngāpuhi), te tangata nāna a Aotearoa i tīmata, otirā he ōrite ōna tikanga ki ō Moa, ā, e tino ū ana ki te toha i te mātauranga Iwi Taketake mā roto i tō rātou hononga ki a Papatūānuku. I roto i te toa, ka whakaatu a Moa i ngā mahi hou, pēnei i Te Ara o Rangitoto, he momo whakarākei mō te tinana me te pakitara ā-whare. E kī ana ia:

"He mea whakaawe tēnei mahi i taku haerenga ki Takapuna me te noho me Jade Townsend i tātahi. I te mea i whānau mai ai i raro i Rangitoto, he hokinga whakamuri mōku. E kitea ana a Rangitoto i konei me ētahi anga pipi mai i te one. E kitea ana ngā tae ātaahua o ngā tōnga, ngā porowhita hiwa me te one konupora pango. Ko te kaupapa o te mahi, ko te ara, te ara ki te tihi o Rangitoto mai i raro, me te hāpai i a Rangitoto hei motu e kitea ana i uta, ā, hei taonga, hei rangatira hoki o tēnei takutai."

Ko te pounamu, te anga me ētahi atu rauemi i takea i te rohe ngā tino taonga a Moa. Ka tūhura tana tikanga mahi hei kaihanga whakarākei i te whakapapa o ngā rauemi, otirā ka miramira i te mahi a ngā taonga whakarākei ki te hanga i te wairua toiwhenua ki te tangata, me te wāhi.

Neke Moa (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Tahu/Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Tūwharetoa) responds to Aotea through sculptural and adornment work.

Tama Toki (Ngāti Wai, Ngāpuhi), founder of Aotea, and Moa share common rituals and an on-going commitment to Indigenous knowledge sharing through their relationship to Papatūānuku (Mother Earth). Within the store, Moa exhibits new works, including Te Ara o Rangitoto, an adornment piece for both the body and the whare wall. She notes:

“This work has been inspired by my visit to Takapuna and staying with Jade Townsend at the beach. Having been born under Rangitoto, it was a bit of a journey back for me. Rangitoto is seen here with some pipi shells off the beach. They have the beautiful colours of sunsets, dark rings, black magnesium soil. The work is about the ara, the journey up to Rangitoto from beneath, and uplifting Rangitoto as the motu that is seen from the coast, and as a taonga and rangatira of this coastline.”

Moa primarily works with pounamu, shell, and other locally sourced materials. Her practice as a jeweller and carver explores the whakapapa of materials, emphasising the role of body adornment in creating a sense of belonging to people and place.

Arielle Walker & Emily Parr
x twenty-seven names

Ko Arielle Walker (Taranaki, Ngāruahine, Ngāpuhi, Pākehā) rāua ko Emily Parr (Ngāi Te Rangi, Moana, Pākehā) e whakaatu ana i Haratua i twenty-seven names. Ka kitea ngā weu ataata me ngā weu waitae ā-tipu i te matapihi whakaatu, otirā e tauutuutu ana ki ngā whakaata o te rūma.

Ka whai a Haratua i te huringa marama o te Maramataka. Ka tīmata, ka mutu hoki i te kōhititanga marama, otirā ka whakawhiti ngā ringatoi i tētahi 'reta' ataata i ia rua rā.  Nā aua whakawhitinga ka noho tūhonohono tonu ngā hoa e rua i te tatanga ki te mutunga o te tau Māori, ā, i te potonga o te rā i te wā e tāria ana ngā marama o te takurua. Ko nga weu, i tāwaitia e ki nga tipu i kohia i te wā o te raumati, me ngā ataata, ka noho i roto i te mīharotanga ka kitea i te rangapūtanga me te taiao. Ka whai ngā mahinga toi i a Matariki me te pūmautanga hou ki ngā tikanga tīpuna me ngā pūnaha mātauranga, ka tau ki ngā ia me ngā huringa o te ao Māori.

Kei Tāmaki Makaurau te ringatoi nei a Walker e noho ana, otirā he kaituhi, he kaiwaihanga hoki. Kātahi anō ka oti i a ia tana Tohu Paerua Toi Ataata i Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makaurau, otirā e rapu ana i ngā huarahi ki te toiwhenuatanga tauutuutu mā ngā pūtahitanga o te whenua, te reo, te toi, te aro ki ngā pūrākau ringapā me ngā kōrero tīpuna.

He ringatoi hoki a Parr e noho ana i Tāmaki Makaurau. Ko tāna he raranga i ngā kōrero ki ngā ata nekeneke, otirā ka tūhura āna tikanga mahi i ngā hononga i waenga i te tangata, ngā pou tarāwaho tōrangapū, te whenua me te moana. Ko āna mahi rangahau o te wā nei o ngā hononga i waenga i ngā tāngata whai me ngā Māori o Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, ka whakawhiti i ngā moana me ngā rautau, ki te rapu i ngā kōrero i ngā pūranga kōrero me ngā wai o ngā haerenga ki ngā whenua tīpuna.

Arielle Walker (Taranaki, Ngāruahine, Ngāpuhi, Pākehā) and Emily Parr (Ngāi Te Rangi, Moana, Pākehā) exhibit Haratua at twenty-seven names. Video and plant-dyed fibres can be seen in the window display with poetic exchanges on the changing room mirrors.

Haratua follows a lunar cycle in the Maramataka. Beginning and ending with the new moon, the artists exchange a video ‘letter’ on alternating days. The exchanges keep two friends connected as the Māori year comes to a close and the days grow shorter in anticipation of the winter months. The fibres, dyed with plants gathered during raumati, and the videos revel in the magic to be found in friendship and te taiao. The artworks approach Matariki with a renewed commitment to ancestral practices and knowledge systems, falling into the rhythms and cycles of te ao Māori.

Walker is a Tāmaki Makaurau-based artist, writer, and maker. Having recently completed a Master of Visual Arts at Auckland University of Technology, she seeks pathways towards reciprocal belonging through the intersections of land, language, and craft, focusing on tactile storytelling and ancestral narratives.

Parr is an artist also living in Tāmaki Makaurau. Weaving stories with moving images, her practice explores relationships between people, political frameworks, whenua, and moana. Her current research on settler–Indigenous relationships of Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa traverses oceans and centuries, seeking stories in archives and waters on haerenga (journey) to ancestral homelands.

Heidi Brickell
x Wynn Hamlyn

Ka whakaatu a Heidi Brickell (Te Hika o Pāpāuma, Ngāti Apakura, Ngāti Kahungunu, Rongomaiwahine, Rangitāne) i ngā pikitia ki Wynn Hamlyn.

He tino whirinaki ngā mahi a Heidi Brickell i Wynn Hamlyn ki ngā tukanga paparanga, me te whakauru i te kiri rāpeti, ngā kongakonga me ngā aho o te kānawehi, me te huahua o ngā tae. Ka nuku, ka neke hoki ngā tae me ngā āhua, ka whakakaha, ka mōnehunehu, ka neke i waenga i ngā ao o te wheako hāngai me te pohewatanga. E kī ana te ringatoi, "E kaingākau ana ahau ki te korihitanga o ngā reo ka whakamahia e tātou ki te tiri i ngā wheako, tae atu ki ngā wheako kāore anō i hopukina, ka rere mā roto i aua kupenga."

Kei Tāmaki Makaurau a Brickell e noho ana, otirā e mahi ana ia i te mātauranga me te whakarauora reo Māori. E poua ana āna tikanga toi i te taha hinengaro, otirā e whai mōhio ana i tāna mīharotanga ki te reo - he mea hanga nā te tangata e āhei ai, e puta ai te whakawhitiwhiti, i te wā hoki e tohua ana e te rehurehutanga.

Heidi Brickell (Te Hika o Pāpāuma, Ngāti Apakura, Ngāti Kahungunu, Rongomaiwahine, Rangitāne) exhibits paintings at Wynn Hamlyn.

Heidi Brickell’s works at Wynn Hamlyn are deeply dependent on processes of layering, incorporating rabbit skin size, pieces and threads of canvas, and a range of pigments. Colours and forms slip and slide, strengthen and dissipate, moving between the realms of direct experience and the imagination. The artist notes, “I am interested in the chorus of languages we use to share in experiences, as well as the uncaptured experience that flows through those nets.”

Brickell is based in Tāmaki Makaurau, where she works in education and te reo Māori revitalisation. Her art practice is grounded in the psychological and informed by her fascination with language—a human creation that enables or facilitates exchange, while also being marked by imprecision.

Angela Morton Room
x cabinets

E whakaatu ana te Angela Morton Room o Te Whare Pukapuka o Takapuna i tētahi kohinga pukapuka i rō kāpata i Commercial Bay.

He nui ngā pukapuka Māori me ētahi atu rauemi tā hei pārekarekatanga i konei, i ahu mai i te Angela Morton Room Te Pātai Toi Art Library i tētahi whakaaturanga tūmatanui mīharo. He mea whakaawe ēnei kōwhiringa e ngā whakaaturanga toi Māori tuatahi pēnei i: Te Maōri (1984), te wā tuatahi i hau te rongo o te toi Māori ki te ao; Te Aho Tapu (1988), he whakaaturanga o ngā kākahu Māori puiaki; me Korurangi: New Maōri Art (1993), he whakaaturanga ā-rōpū nui.

He mea tīmata te Angela Morton Room i te Whare Pukapuka o Takapuna i te tau 1985, nā runga i te tukunga a te whānau o Angela Morton, otirā kua tipu hei pūranga toi nui mā ngā ringatoi, ngā kaiwaihanga, ngā ākonga, ngā kairangahau me ngā apataki toi. Kei te takiwā o te 1800 pukapuka mō te peita me ngā kaipeita anake, otirā me te huhua o ngā pukapuka motuhake o te tango whakaahua, te whakairo, te matapaia, te papanga, te hanga tā, te tāraitanga, te toi puni, te tā moko me ngā pukapuka toi whānui.

The Angela Morton Room of Takapuna Library presents a collection of pukapuka in the cabinets at Commercial Bay.

A range of Māori art books and other printed materials from the Angela Morton Room Te Pātaka Toi Art Library can be enjoyed here in a special public display. The selection has been inspired by exhibition firsts in Māori art including: Te Maōri (1984), the first time Māori art was brought to international attention; Te Aho Tapu (1988), an exhibition of prized cloaks; and Korurangi: New Maōri Art (1993), a major contemporary group show.

Takapuna Library’s Angela Morton Room was founded in 1985, with a bequest from the family of Angela Morton, and has grown into a well-resourced art library for artists and makers, students, researchers, and art lovers. There are around 1800 pukapuka on painting and painters alone, plus a large range of specialist books on photography, carving, ceramics, textiles, printmaking, sculpture, installation art, tā moko and tattooing, and book arts.

Te Ara Minhinnick
x Yu Mei

Ka whakaaturia e Te Ara Minhinnick (Ngāti TeAta) a Mō Rātou Mā, he tāraitanga, hemahi oro hoki i Yu Mei.

Ko Mō Rātou Mā he kōpū tāraitanga, e tōpunitia anaki ngā tangi o ngā reanga e toru o ngā wāhine e taki waiata ana (waiata tangi).E akiakihia ana te iwi tūmatanui ki te kuhu atu ki te toa kia āta kite i ngāmahi nei. Ka kōrero ia mō āna tikanga toi, 'He tīmata me taku kuia i tanapakanga i tōna oranga katoa, otirā he huarahi ki te ako i taua whakapapa, tehītori o ngā kōrero ... He mea whai mōhio aku mahi e te Maramataka, arā temaramataka taiao, he huarahi o te whai raupapa e hāngai ana ki te taiao."

He ringatoi maea a Minhinnick. Ko āna mahi toihe 'waka kimiara' ki te ao o te mātauranga Māori i ēnei rā. I te wā o WhānauMārama, ka noho ia hei kaiārahi, e noho ana ki te taiwhanga toi o Season, ki tetuku mōhiotanga ki ngā manuhiri katoa me te whakahaere tāwhiotanga ki te reoMāori.

Te Ara Minhinnick (Ngāti Te Ata) exhibits Mō Rātou Mā, a sculpture and audio work at Yu Mei.

Mō Rātou Mā is a sculptural womb, imbued with the tangi (sound) of three generations of wāhine reciting waiata (lamenting songs). The public are encouraged to enter the store and experience the work up close. She talks of her practice, ‘It kind of started with my nan and her fight for her whole life basically and it’s a way for me to learn that whakapapa or that history of stories… My work is informed by the Maramataka, which is the taio calender or a way of keeping time that aligns with the environment.”

Minhinnick is an early-career artist. Her works exist as ‘wayfinding vessels’ into the present-day realities of mātauranga Māori. During Whānau Mārama, she will be acting as a guide, based at contemporary art gallery Season, providing information to all visitors and conducting tours in te reo Māori.

Lissy & Rudi Robinson-Cole
x Kate Spade

Ka whakahaeretia e Lissy (Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Kahu) rāua ko Rudi Robinson-Cole (Ngāruahine, Ngāti Tū, Ngāti Paoa, Waikato) ngā matapihi o Kate Spade me ā rāua tāraitanga.

He hoa mārena te tokorua nei a Lissy rāua ko Rudi, e kawe ana i te hari me te mīharotanga ki ā rātou mahi toi tui māwhaiwhai, otirā e tohu ana te māwhaiwhai ā-tuitui i ō rāua wairua muramura. E rua ngā tinana e tū ana i muri i te matapihi. Ko Hine-tūrama te atua nāna i hanga nga whetū. Ka aro tātou ki a ia hei whakawhānui i tō tātou aronga o te ao tukupū me ōna hiranga, ōna āheinga katoa hoki. Ko Urutengangana te atua o te aho mārama. Ko ia te mātāmua o ngā tamariki a Ranginui rāua ko Papatūānuku.

Ko Hine-tūrama rāua ko Urutengangana he wāhanga o tētahi kaupapa nui ake, arā ko Wharenui Harikoa, otirā ka huri taiāwhio i te ao ina oti ana. Ko te kōrero a te tokorua, "Ko Wharenui Harikoa he poro whaka hakoko. Ko Uenuku tawhana ki te Rangi. Wharenui Harikoa  he poro whakahakoko o te tūrama i whakawetia e ngā tīpuna, ka tīaho puta noa i te rangi ānō nei he āniwaniwa.  Ko tā Wharenui Harikoa he whakaumu i te mamaetanga kohuki tuku iho ki tētahi koromeke kotahi o te manahau hōhonu, e tūhono ana i ngā tāngata katoa me te whakaoho i te manamanahau huri i te ao."

Lissy (Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Kahu) and Rudi Robinson-Cole (Ngāruahine, Ngāti Tū, Ngāti Paoa, Waikato) take over the windows of Kate Spade with their sculptures.

Husband and wife duo Lissy and Rudi bring joy and wonder through their crochet-based art, the interlocking of crochet symbolises their vibrant wairua (spirit). Behind glass stand two figures. Hine-tūrama is the goddess who created the stars. We look to her to expand our awareness of the universe and its wonders and possibilities. Urutengangana is the god of light. He is the firstborn of the children of Ranginui and Papatūānuku.

Hine-tūrama and Urutengangana are components of a larger project, Wharenui Harikoa, which will tour globally when complete. The couple comment, “Ko Wharenui Harikoa he poro whaka hakoko. Ko Uenuku tawhana ki te Rangi. Wharenui Harikoa is a refracting prism of tūpuna-inspired light that shines across the sky like a rainbow. Wharenui Harikoa is transforming intergenerational trauma into deeply felt joy one loop at a time, connecting all people and igniting joy globally.”

Bobby Luke
Ringatoi ā-noho — Artist-in-residence

He ringatoi ā-noho a Bobby Luke (Ngāti Ruanui, Taranaki) he kaihautū hoki mā NOOK, otirā he whare huatau i mua, engari ināianei kua tohia ki ngā kākahu rerehua wetetāmi, hei whakamana i ngā wāhine i tō rātou mana ake, ā, ki te whakaawe hoki i te auahatanga mā te hoahoa kakare me ngā tuhinga o mua.

He ringatoi toirau a Luke, ko āna mahi i mua ko te hanga kākahu, papanga, tango whakaahua me ngā ata nekeneke. He Kaihoahoa Kākahu Māori ia mā tōna ake umanga kākahu a Campbell Luke, otirā he Pouako Hoahoa Māori ia i Wellington Faculty of Architecture and Design Innovation. Mo te roanga o Te Whānau Mārama, kua pōwhiritia e ia ngā ringatoi me ngā kaihoahoa kia noho atu mai i te Tāite - Rātapu mai i te 11am ki te 3pm. E wātea ana ki te iwi tūmatanui te kuhu atu me te tiro i ngā hanganga toi, te whiu pātai me te ako i ngā mahi a Luke.

Dr Bobby Luke (Ngāti Ruanui, Taranaki) is artist-in-residence and kaihautū for Kākahu Hou: The Breath of Cloth at NOOK, once a styling suite, now dedicated to decolonising fashion aesthetics, to empower women in their individuality and inspire creativity through sentimental design and articles of our past.

Luke is an interdisciplinary practitioner with a background in fashion, textile, photography, and moving image. He is a Māori Fashion Designer for his own label Campbell Luke, and a Māori Design Lecturer at Wellington Faculty of Architecture and Design Innovation. For the duration of Whānau Mārama, he has invited artists and designers to hold the space Thursday - Sunday from 11am to 3pm. The public are welcome to come inside and observe the art objects, ask questions and learn about Luke’s work.

T-shirts x Kōkako

He toi puni o ngā tīhāte tauira Māori ki Kōkako.

Ko Kōkako he wāhi o ngā kawenga o ia rā, e tū mai ai te hapori o Commercial Bay - te hunga e mahi ana i te takiwā me te hunga toro mai - ki te inu i tētahi o ngā momo kawhe reka. Mō Whānau Mārama 2022 e tūhono tonu ana a Kōkako hei wāhi whakaaturanga. E rārangi mai ana ngā tīhāte tauira Māori i te pakitara o muri, koinā te wāhi e whakairi ai ngā kiritaki i ō rātou koti me ngā pēke. Me pēhea e kawea ai ngā karere me ngā waitohu waiwai ki ngā mokowā, ngā wāhi kawe ritenga rānei o tō ao? Kimihia he rau mōhiohio o ngā taipitopito ringatoi me te kaupapa o ngā hoahoatanga. 

An installation of Māori-designed t-shirts at Kōkako.

Kōkako is a site of daily rituals where the Commercial Bay community – those who work in the area and those who come to visit – will stop to enjoy one of their delicious coffee blends. For Whānau Mārama 2022 Kōkako continues to partner as an exhibition site. Māori designed t-shirts line the back wall, it is where customers might normally put their own coats or bags. How can you bring vital messages and motifs into the spaces or places of ritual in your life? Look for an information sheet that has the artists details and kaupapa of the designs.

Stevei Houkāmau
x The Gentry

Ko Stevei Houkāmau (Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui,Pākehā) e whakaatu ana i ngā tāraitanga uku i The Gentry.

I āna whakarōpūtanga mahi, kawhakamahia e Houkāmau he momo reo ataata whānui ki te whakawaehere i temātauranga me te whakapapa hei uku. Ko ngā whakairo me ngā tānga e mau tonu anai tāna tāera ake. Otirā he whakamāoritanga o te tā moko me te tatau. Kawhakaōritetia ngā tohu, ka whakakotahitia rānei ki te rere o te āhua, tetinana, te ipu o te uku rānei. He aronga reretahi i waenga i ngā ringa oHoukāmau me tana ahuahu anō i a Papatūānuku.

He mea whānau, whakatipu hoki aHoukāmau i Porirua. I te tau 2011, i whakauru ia ki tētahi Tohu Toi o ngā Rangii Toihoukura. I whakaaro ia ki te whakauru ake ki te kaupapa tā moko, engari iwhanaketia kētia e ia tana kaingākau ki te uku mai i a Wī Taepa rātou ko BayeRiddell, ko Mano Nathan o Ngā Kaihanga Uku, he huinga o ngā kaimahi uku Māori.

Stevei Houkāmau (Ngāti Porou, TeWhānau-ā-Apanui, Scotland) presents uku sculptures at The Gentry.

In his group of works, Houkāmauemploys a wide range of visual languages to encode knowledge and genealogy asuku. The surface carvings and drawings are in her signature style. They are translationsof tā moko and tātau. The marks are matched-up or united with the directions andflow of the clay form, body, or container. There is a palpable harmony between thehands of Houkāmau and her reforming of Papatūānuku.

Houkamau was born and raised inPorirua. In 2011, she enrolled in a Bachelor of Māori Visual Arts at Toihoukura.Planning to enter the tā moko programme, she instead developed her love for ukufrom Wi Taepa, Baye Riddell, and the late Manos Nathan of Ngā Kaihanga Uku, a collectiveof Māori clay workers.

Kayley Ngawati & Āio Mataira-Whare & Hana Tuwhare
x Ahi

Kua oti i a Kayley Ngawati (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Tonga)

i a Āio Mataira-Whare (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu, Raukawa, Ngāpuhi)

me Hana Tuwhare (Ngāpuhi) ētahi rotarota te tito mā te wharekai o Ahi.


“He hoa mātou e tuhi rotarota ana mai i tērā tau. He whakatōpūtanga mātou o ngā wāhine Māori kua roa e tuhi rotarota ana ki te reo Māori me te reo Ingarihi mai i te 2021."

He mea kapo ake ngā kupu o ēnei rotarota o Matariki i tētahi pō e tirotiro haere ana, e hongihongi haere ana, e whāwhā haere ana, e rongo ana i te kakara hoki o Ahi.

"I te aranga mai o Matariki me āna tamariki tokowaru i te pae o takurua i te ata hāpara, ka tohu i te tauhou Māori. Ka hauhaketia ā mātou kai, kua kī ngā rua, ā, kāore i nui ngā mahi. Ka whakakotahi tātou, ki te whai whakaaro, ki te rongo i te mahana o ētahi atu me te kai tahi ki te makuru o te kai."

E whakanui ana ngā rotarota i ō tātou whetū e iwa i te kāhui, engari ko te aronga nui ki ngā tamariki e whā a Matariki e whai hononga ana ki te kai mai i ngā awa, te moana, ngā māra me te rangi o Aotearoa.

Kayley Ngawati (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Tonga)

Āio Mataira-Whare (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu, Raukawa, Ngāpuhi)

Hana Tuwhare (Ngāpuhi) have created poems for Ahi restaurant.


“He hoa mātou e tuhi rotarota ana mai i tērā tau. We are a collective of wāhine Māori that have been writing poetry together in te reo Māori and English since 2021.”

The words for these Matariki poems were captured during an evening taking in the sights, smells, textures and flavors of Ahi.

When Matariki and her eight children rise over the winter horizon in the early morning, they mark the Māori new year. Our crops are harvested, our food stores are full and there is little work to be done. We come together, reflect, revel in each other’s company and share in an abundance of kai. 

The poems pay homage to our nine stars in the cluster, but in particular to four of Matariki’s children who are associated with kai from the rivers, oceans, gardens and skies of Aotearoa.

Jade Townsend
Kairauhī — Curator

He ringatoi ataata a Jade Townsend (Ngāti Kahungunu) e mahi ana i te pūtahitanga o ōna kāwai Māori, Ingarihi hoki. Ko tana whakamārama mō tōna ake tuakiri "he kārure ita-kore ka neke i roto anō i ngā piki me heke o ngā tōpana ahurea taupatupatu." I whānau mai, ā, i tipu mai hoki ia i Whanganui i mua o te hūnukutanga ki Liverpool i Ingarangi, otirā te wāhi tērā o tana ohinga. Nā te rongo a Townsend i te whānuitanga o ngā momo mita, reo ā-iwi, ngā kīwaha ā-rohe me ngā pūrākau,  Ko tāna aronga ko te hanga i ngā hanganga toi ā-tōrangapū, ā-pāpori e whakaatu ana i ngā āwangawanga me ngā wawata paetata, i te wā e whakamihi ana ki te āhua tuatini o te momorua ā-ahurea.

Jade Townsend (Ngāti Kahungunu) is a visual artist working at the intersection of her Māori and British heritage. She describes her identity as a “non-fixed duality that moves within the ebbs and flows of contradictory cultural forces”. She was born and raised in Whanganui before moving to Liverpool in the United Kingdom, where she spent her teenage years. Townsend’s exposure to a wide range of accents, dialects, regional slang, folktales, and pūrākau made her aware of the limitations of translation. She is interested in creating politically and socially minded art objects that speak to local concerns and aspirations whilst acknowledging the complex nature of cultural hybridity.

Liv Stewart
Kaitiaki — Host

He uri a Liv Stewart o Ngāti Manu, rātou ko Ngā Puhi, ko Ngāti Pākehā hoki. E rua ōna paetohu tahi, arā ko te BA me te BFA. Ko te toi Māori, ko te rāranga, me te whatu ōna kaupapa rangahau.

”Nōku te whiwhi ki te whai wāhi ki Te Whānau Mārama i tēnei tau, waihoki, ki te tū hei kaitiaki ki ēnei taonga. Ko tōku kaingākau ko ngā toi Māori o te Ao hurihuri nā te mea e kawe ana ngā ringatoi-ō-naianei i ō tatou pūrakau kua heke mai i ō tatou whakapapa. He wā whakatairanga i ō-tātou Māoritanga ki tēnei whenua ahurei, a Aotearoa, a Matariki.”

Liv Stewart (Ngāti Manu, Ngāpuhi, Pākehā) has a BA and BFA (Hons) from the University of Auckland, where she focused her research on Toi Māori, raranga and whatu. 

"I am so honoured to be a kaitiaki for these taonga and part of the Whānau Mārama whānau this year. For me, contemporary Māori toi tells our stories: our past, our present and our future. Celebrating our whakapapa, our Tūpuna and the stories passed down through generations. Matariki is the perfect time to remember these stories and celebrate Māoritanga and Aotearoa together."

Maungarongo Ron Te Kawa
Neke Moa
Arielle Walker & Emily Parr
Heidi Brickell
Angela Morton Room
Te Ara Minhinnick
Lissy & Rudi Robinson-Cole
Bobby Luke
T-shirts x Kōkako
Stevei Houkāmau
Kayley Ngawati & Āio Mataira-Whare & Hana Tuwhare
Jade Townsend
Liv Stewart
Ngā Ringatoi – Artists
Maungarongo Ron Te Kawa
Neke Moa
Arielle Walker & Emily Parr
Heidi Brickell
Angela Morton Room
Te Ara Minhinnick
Lissy & Rudi Robinson-Cole
Bobby Luke
T-shirts x Kōkako
Stevei Houkāmau
Kayley Ngawati & Āio Mataira-Whare & Hana Tuwhare
Jade Townsend
Liv Stewart
Maungarongo Ron Te Kawa
Neke Moa
Arielle Walker & Emily Parr
Heidi Brickell
Angela Morton Room
Te Ara Minhinnick
Lissy & Rudi Robinson-Cole
Bobby Luke
T-shirts x Kōkako
Stevei Houkāmau
Kayley Ngawati & Āio Mataira-Whare & Hana Tuwhare
Jade Townsend
Liv Stewart