E Whai Ake Nei | Matariki Exhibition

E Whai Ake Nei, celebrates through physical, digital, creative, and designed content, the values of matāuranga Māori, and our shared kauapapa. Te Wāhanga Waihanga-Hoahoa is excited to share with you the work of our staff, students, and alumni in E Whai Ake Nei | Matariki Exhibition. Matariki is a time for celebration, future thinking and remembering - E Whai Ake Nei encompasses this kaupapa to showcase the work of our past, current, and future, designers, architects and creatives, with a greater meaning of “Coming Up”, which references notions of future endeavours, acknowledges the efforts behind the revitalisation of te reo Māori and creative media’s role in advancing this engagement.

The Covid19 Pandemic has deeply impacted how we think, create and even go about our daily lives. It’s created uncertainty for future plans and has halted, not just Aotearoa, but the Taiao. This exhibition is intended to reaffirm the bonds that we have with each other and re awaken our desire to plan for the future, now that our motu and taiao are re-opening.

Matariki (Rapa Nui, Rarotonga, and Aotearoa), Mataliki (Tokelau, Niue, Tuvalu, Tonga), Matali'i (Samoa), Matari'i (Tahiti), and Makali'i (Hawaii) are the cultural signifiers of Pleiades star cluster, and of great significance to the spiritual, environmental, and cultural realms throughout the Pacific. The celebration of their first rising in late June or early July marks the beginning of the New Year in the Māori lunar calendar.

E Whai Ake Nei July 11 – 22, Te Aro Campus Atrium

Images - Aio and Owhiro - by Te Wāhanga Waihanga-Hoahoa alum, Renati Waaka