Current Projects/ACTIVITIES 2024

Please find a list of my current projects and activities, as at 2024, below.

Music/story

Ūkaipō: Our Struggles, with Love is a new ‘play with music’ in development. Its central theme concerns the struggle to be authentic and true to oneself; to find the courage to pursue one’s dreams despite the odds.

Stage Two in the development of the modern whare tapere. In 2010-14, I led four whare tapere at my home papakāinga of Waimangō, on the Firth of Thames. In the period, 2016-19, I designed and led a ‘Matariki Community Ritual’ at Te Papa, Wellington, making use of my experiences with creating whare tapere. I returned to creating whare tapere properly in 2020, however, the Covid pandemic intervened. In 2022 and 2023, I was able to run wānanga for the whare tapere (in Dunedin, Hokianga and Kaiaua) and during Matariki 2023, we also ran a whare tapere at the EcoQuest Centre for Indigeneity, Ecology and Creativity, Whakatīwai, Kaiaua. In 2024, we will run a Matariki whare tapere again and begin the develop of a training programme.

INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE

The Springs of Rangiātea is a new book in development. Written for general and specialist audiences, the goal of the book is to provide an informative overview of mātauranga Māori and a set of ideas about the new mātauranga Māori creativity unfolding in Aotearoa today. The book recognises the increased interest in mātauranga Māori and asserts that it retains much ‘creative potential’ of value to Māori and to the world at large. The book supports a national conversation about mātauranga Māori - while respecting local/iwi/hapū/whānau diversity and ‘ownership’ - to enable the contribution of mātauranga Māori to ‘nation building’. This project is supported by a grant from Creative New Zealand.

Projects/People

My current committee responsibilities are as follows. Except where indicated, all roles are voluntary and unpaid.