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WRITER: Correspondence 3.2 for The Physics Room

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WRITER: Correspondence 3.2 for The Physics Room

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JULY

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The Physics Room is a contemporary art space based in Christchurch, New Zealand.

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Started: 2022

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Started: 2022

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PRODUCER: Tō Tātou Ao, Toi Whakaari Decolonisation Symposium

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PRODUCER: Tō Tātou Ao, Toi Whakaari Decolonisation Symposium

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JULY

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AUGUST

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Juanita Hepi (Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāi Tukairangi) is a multidisciplinary artist, producer, educator and researcher who has performed extensively throughout Aotearoa, NZ. She toured the Māori Troilus and Cressida to Shakespeare's Globe in London for which she was nominated for a Chapman Tripp award, and starred in Himiona Grace's award winning film The Pā Boys. Juanita is the director of Taki Rua's 2020 te reo Māori touring season, Nga Mānu Rōreka and is completing her final year of a Masters in Māori and Indigenous Leadership. She is currently producing and directing Tūmahana alongside the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and Circo Kali, which is a theatre epic based on the 1849 writings of Matiaha Tiramorehu. Working with this text has been a full circle journey for Juanita whose passions lie in the narratives of her tūrakawaewae / place to stand in Ōtautahi, and her marae at Rāpaki.

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Juanita Hepi (Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāi Tukairangi) is a multidisciplinary artist, producer, educator and researcher who has performed extensively throughout Aotearoa, NZ. She toured the Māori Troilus and Cressida to Shakespeare's Globe in London for which she was nominated for a Chapman Tripp award, and starred in Himiona Grace's award winning film The Pā Boys.

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April

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Ngaio (Waikato Tainui, Ngaati Te Ata, Ngāti Porou, Tauiwi) brings a visual arts background to the project. As a kairaranga (weaver) and a graphic designer, she is familiar with creating a space that resonates with Māori. Co-creator Juanita Hepi (Kāi Tahu, Waitaha, Kāti Māmoe, Ngāti Mutunga, Moriori, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Wai, Ngāpuhi) has a background in theatre, education, and storytelling.

"This is not a European-style gallery," says Ngaio. "Before our opening last September, we invited the community and some artists to come and paint on the walls. We used earth pigments from the local area. It was a way of transferring mauri (life force) to the space and starting to build that sense of belonging. The names and aspirations of local artists and tamariki have literally been written into the walls."

From Māori carver Riki Manuel's carved tiki at the entrance, the space is a platform for Māori to display their toi in whatever form it takes. "We've had over 100 Māori artists take part since our official opening in September, and most have been paid, thanks to the generous support of sponsors such as Christchurch City Council, NZ Lottery Grants Board, and Rātā Foundation."

Upcoming events include Te Whare Tapere Live: a collection of performances, ranging from dance, te reo Māori jazz, and rapping to poetry and comedy. This event takes place from 20-26 May at Te Whare Tapere.

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In a ground-breaking initiative, Māori storytelling and artistic expression are now on show at Te Matatiki Toi Ora The Arts Centre, thanks to the endeavours of two wāhine and their community.

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STORYTELLER: TORO ATUA By Dr Areta Wilkinson

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STORYTELLER: TORO ATUA By Dr Areta Wilkinson

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JULY

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Selwyn District's newest public artwork will be officially opened on 6 July 2024.

Toro Atua, by Dr Areta Wilkinson (Ngāi Tahu), is intended as a legacy for future generations.

Made up of twenty shimmering, stainless-steel figures on golden poles up to four metres tall, the artwork will be a distinctive landmark in Rolleston Town Centre. It will be permanently located in the reserve next to Te Ara Ātea, Rolleston's cultural and community hub.

Dr Wilkinson was commissioned to create Toro Atua by a panel from the Rolleston Residents' Association, Selwyn District Council, SCAPE Public Art and Ngāi Te Ruahikihiki ki Taumutu, following a competitive selection process. SCAPE Public Art fund-raised over 50% of the project budget to supplement historical council funds that had been set aside for a public artwork.

The opening event, hosted by Selwyn District Council, will be at 5.30pm on Saturday 6 July. It is a free, public event, and everyone is welcome.

Selwyn District Mayor Sam Broughton says, "watching the work take shape, I'm sure that the artist has more than achieved her vision of creating a distinctive herald of Rolleston, which will delight and intrigue residents and visitors." Toro Atua is another sign of Rolleston, and Selwyn District, coming of age, says Mr Broughton: "not only are we the fastest growing centre in the region, but we are also becoming more confident in embracing and celebrating our distinctive landscape and cultural heritage."

The sculpture draws on the cultural narrative for Te Ara Ātea gifted to Selwyn District Council by mana whenua, Ngāi Te Ruahikihiki ki Taumutu.

Ruahikihikitanga Portfolio Leader, Puamiria Parata-Goodall welcomed the artist's sensitive response to mana whenua stories. " Toro Atua reflects many strands of the narrative, where we speak to the whakapapa, kōrero and mahinga kai traditional food and resource practices. Another key aspect is the importance of the site as a pouwhenua or marker in the network of traditional and contemporary trails across the landscape of Tauwharekākaho Rolleston."

Artist Dr Areta Wilkinson says creating Toro Atua is an immense privilege and a career highlight. "Objects become taonga through the community of care around them. Already many people have contributed their energy and skill to this project. My hope is that Toro Atua will become integral to the sense of identity and landscape of generations of local people."

Dr Wilkinson paid tribute to the team at ENI Engineering in Christchurch, despite it being a departure from her usual hands-on approach to artmaking. "It's been great, actually; they have taken a lot of care, and we have worked very well together."

Josh Down of ENI Engineering says one-off jobs like Toro Atua require close attention to detail. "We're lucky to have guys on staff who love a challenge. I think they've done the work proud, and it's a great showcase for local manufacturing."

After the completed figures were set in place, specialist lighting was installed by CORDE to enhance the impact of the artwork at night.

The Rolleston Residents Association chair Mark Alexander says they are pleased to have been part of the process of bringing this artwork to our Rolleston community and to our Selwyn District. "We thank all that have contributed including the artist Dr Areta Wilkinson and especially SCAPE Public Art whose fundraising efforts doubled the available funds for the project."

Executive Director of SCAPE Public Art, Richard Aindow, says Toro Atua represents a new departure for the Christchurch-based organisation. "In its 26-year history, SCAPE has engaged with over 250 artists, including producing 17 permanent artworks, in Christchurch. Public art has such power to connect people in and to public spaces, so as a Selwyn District resident myself, it's a thrill to produce artwork that Rolleston residents can enjoy in their own backyard," he says.

SCAPE thanks the project's funders and sponsors, who made the work possible. They are:
Opening Event Details:
Saturday 6 July, 5.30pm. Rolleston Reserve, behind Te Ara Ātea, 56 Tennyson Street, Rolleston.

Please dress warmly and bring a torch. This is a free public event hosted by Selwyn District Council that will feature Ngāi Tahu storytelling by Juanita Hepi; everyone is welcome.
More about the artwork: Themes
In developing this artwork, Dr Areta Wilkinson identified three "premises" arising from the cultural narrative of Ngāi Te Ruahikihiki ki Taumutu about the original village Orariki. These premises are:

Mauri: the life-giving force. In this artwork, "mauri is expressed through an assembly of imagined figures teaming with liveliness. Semblances of feathered, land-bound or marine creatures, these characters both familiar and other worldly vibrate with life from their elevated stations high above our heads," says Dr Wilkinson.

Mahinga Kai: natural resources and the traditional practices of harvesting, preparation and storage, according to the seasons, which entailed migration through the landscape.

Pouwhenua: wayfinding, ancient trails, new directions. "Toro means to scout, explore and extend. Toro Atua are divine scouts sent forth to search, guide and scrutinise our movement and impact on this whenua," says Dr Wilkinson.
Visual Language
Toro Atua employs an original visual language developed by the artist, drawing inspiration from ancestral rock art. The figures on each pole are not intended to directly map onto or represent specific natural or supernatural creatures. Instead, the artist invites us to be curious and use our imagination when we look at Toro Atua. "Shapes are evocative - bearing a hint or trace of something we recognise," she says.
Relationship to broader creative practice
Dr Wilkinson sees Toro Atua as part of a broader exploration of mahinga kai, which can also be seen in smaller works shown in recent years, including in:
Paemanu: Tauraka Toi. A Landing Place, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, 2021-22 Moa-Hunter Fashions, Christchurch Art Gallery, 202-21

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Major artwork a taonga for Rolleston - SCAPE Public Art

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Selwyn District's newest public artwork will be officially opened on 6 July 2024. Toro Atua, by Dr Areta Wilkinson (Ngāi Tahu), is intended as a legacy for future generations. Made up of twenty shimmering, stainless-steel figures on golden poles up to four metres tall, the artwork will be a distinctive landmark in Rolleston Town Centre.

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Equity New Zealand on Instagram: "We’re so excited to be hosting the FREE Ōtautahi Performers Wānanga 

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PANELIST: EQUITY NZ performing arts wānaka

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PANELIST: EQUITY NZ performing arts wānaka

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JUNE 2024

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Equity New Zealand on Instagram: "We’re so excited to be hosting the FREE Ōtautahi Performers Wānanga THIS SUNDAY to meet, connect and learn together. It’s set to be a HUGE day and we’re pinching ourselves at the folks giving their time to this kaupapa! MC’d by the iconic Lizzie Tollemache of Rollicking Entertainment, we are prepping for a cracker of a day.

The round up is:
Kira Josephson, J.R. Ballantyne, Kim Garrett, Jess Brien.
Emma Cusdin, Jono Martin, Lizzie Tollemache, Juanita Hepi.
Tessa Waters, Holly Chappell-Eason, Cienda McNamara, Gretchen La Roche.

We are SO STOKED to be hearing from such experts in their fields – the insight alone is going to be invaluable!

Our also thanks go out to our mates at @_altiora_ for offering us such a gorgeous space at very reasonable rates. If you’re thinking of putting a show on, they’re definitely the place to be!

So, if you’re a performer in Ōtautahi (actors, improvisers, dancers, and the like, not just members!!) DON’T MISS OUT!!

Sign up in our bio ✨"

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67 likes, 1 comments - equitynewzealand on June 10, 2024: "We’re so excited to be hosting the FREE Ōtautahi Performers Wānanga THIS SUNDAY to meet, connect and learn together. It’s set to be a HUGE...". 

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MAY 2024

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Instagram의 Te Whare Tapere님 : "Tonight’s showing of Te Kaupoi: Extracts will go ahead at 7.30 but our beautiful Te Reo Tautito pre-show entertainment has been struck by the dreaded mate korona / covid. We’re sending massive healing vibes and aroha to them. 

Soooo, arrive early or arrive on time, Te Whare Tapere is so excited to bring you the final showing of Te Kaupoi: Extracts, TONIGHT, 7.30 pm at Altiora. 

Mā te wā"

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34 likes, 0 comments - tewharetapere - May 21, 2024: "Tonight’s showing of Te Kaupoi: Extracts will go ahead at 7.30 but our beautiful Te Reo Tautito pre-show entertainment has been struck by...". 

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MAY 2024

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Instagram의 Te Whare Tapere님 : "We are so excited to be running Te Whare Tapere this week with our awesome neighbours @_altiora_ 

As happens with life, we have had to update our schedule a little bit, but please follow the link in bio, purchase some tickets and come to support some of amazing Māori and BIPOC Arts and Performance Community. 

Can't wait to see you there!"

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44 likes, 0 comments - tewharetapere - May 19, 2024: "We are so excited to be running Te Whare Tapere this week with our awesome neighbours @_altiora_ 

As happens with life, we have had to...". 

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DIRECTOR: Wahine Matatoa Development Season

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DIRECTOR: Wahine Matatoa Development Season

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JUNE 2024

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Ōtepoti-based director, casting agent and writer Cindy Diver (Kāi Tahu) is bringing to the stage her first full-length play, Wahine Mātātoa: the (mostly) true story of Erihāpeti Pātahi, for a limited season this weekend.

A comedy of consequences, Wahine Mātātoa tells the story of wahine Kāi Tahu Elizabeth across time and space, as she navigates how to balance decisions that could end her dreams of adventure.

This happens as she visits the (mostly) true stories of her ancestor, Erihāpeti Pātahi - a high born, high-spirited wahine, and a force as untamable as the sea.

A direct descendent of the titular character, Diver has woven the play's narrative around the stories of her fiery tupuna (ancestor), bringing to life a uniquely southern story that considers what parts of stories are passed down and what are pieced together from other sources.

Diver also draws parallels to her own life.

"This story has been rumbling around in my head since I was a child. Telling the story of my ancestor, her bravery, her stubbornness, her inability to be squished into a life she could not control," she said.

"I too, having chosen a crazy craft that's perpetually fraught; I too, have an affinity with the idea of choosing the path less trod - and following my heart, no matter the consequences."

Director Juanita Hepi (Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Wai, Moriori, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāpuhi) returned to Ōtepoti to direct the development phase of the work, having been involved with the show during its inception as part of Ōtepoti Theatre Lab 2023.

In true alignment with the kaupapa, Hepi is collaborating with a team of predominantly Kai Tahu actors and production creatives, including renowned taonga pūoro artist, Ruby Solly. The actors are Millie Manning, Grace Turipa, Simon Anderson and Rosella Hart.

How do we navigate the future while holding on to our dreams? Turns out even the naughtiest of tupuna can guide us on our paths.

Wahine Mātātoa: the (mostly) true story of Erihāpeti Pātahi is presented in a three-day development season at Allen Hall Theatre, with four performances from June 21-23. The showings are free for the public, but require tickets - bookings via Eventbrite.

This development season has been made possible through the support of Creative New Zealand, Dunedin City Council and the Ngāi Tahu fund and is presented by Theatreworks and WOW! Productions.

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Play turns to the past to guide the present

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Ōtepoti-based director, casting agent and writer Cindy Diver (Kāi Tahu) is bringing to the stage her first full-length play, Wahine Mātātoa: the ...

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May 2024

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Te Whare Tapere in the Christchurch Arts Centre is neither a European-style gallery or theatre. As a space principally by Māori, for Māori, it is, says co-founder artist Juanita Hepi, "a multidisciplinary, indigenous house of storytelling."

Te Whare Tapere was the name given by Māori before the arrival of the European to such community houses of storytelling, dance, music, puppets, games and other artforms.

This week that concept comes further to life with a performance week Te Whare Tapere Live, from 21 to 25 May, featuring an array of waiata, storytelling, sharing, and performance at the art centre's new performance space Altiera.

Included is a night of extracts from Whiti Hereaka's play Te Kaupoi that Hepi is performing in: "a tense political drama set in the near future where Māori bear the brunt of blame for civil unrest and are labelled "terrorists".

True, you couldn't get more European than the architecture of the grand old restored Christchurch Arts Centre, making the presence of Te Whare Tapere as a counter arguably all the more apt. A carving by Riki Manuel guards Te Whare's entrance.

The centre is host to a wide range of important community and arts initiatives in Ōtautahi, and currently in a battle with Christchurch City Council for funding recognising its community work .

Te Whare Tapere was founded in September 2023 with Hepi and fellow artist Ngaio Cowell. They opened the space with the walls coloured by soils from Redcliffs, Rāpaki, Tuahiwi in north Canterbury, and even a hangi pit used in the Arts Centre for Matariki celebrations. Local artists, rangatahi and tamariki wrote their names and aspirations on the walls.

Hepi is a multidisciplinary storyteller. She holds a Masters of Māori and Indigenous Leadership with Distinction, is a graduate from Toi Whakaari, the NZ Drama School and has performed with The Court Theatre, Auckland Theatre Company, Bats and Shakespeare's Globe.

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Bringing an indigenous house of storytelling alive in Ōtautahi: Juanita Hepi

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Te Whare Tapere in the Christchurch Arts Centre is neither a European-style gallery or theatre. As a space principally by Māori, for Māori, it is, says co-founder artist Juanita Hepi, "a multidisciplinary, indigenous house of storytelling."

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August 2023

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Hine Hōia is a new multi-artform work from director Juanita Hepi (Kāi Tahu, Waitaha, Kāti Māmoe, Ngāti Mutunga, Moriori, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Wai, Ngāpuhi), circus arts expert Danny Lee Syme and composer Hamish Oliver.

Inspired by the narrative of Stravinsky and Ramuz's Histoire du soldat (The Soldier's Tale) in which a soldier makes a pact with the Devil in return for great wealth, Juanita Hepi has set the story in 1918 Aotearoa, in a country ravaged by the New Zealand wars and the Spanish flu pandemic.

The title character, Hine Hōia, stands at the precipice of a world in tatters, until a chance encounter changes her life forever.

Juanita Hepi talks with Bryan Crump about the work, which is touring as part of Chamber Music New Zealand's CMNZ Series, and what attracted her to the story.

"It's a Faustian tale, it's a tale that most of us already know. I think what's really attractive to me is that it's really asking questions of human nature, so it really doesn't matter what time [period] you're in."

"These are age-old questions that we've been asking for a very, very long time... What is important to us as people, and what are we willing to give up for these things?"

This audio is not downloadable due to copyright restrictions.

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Hine Hōia: A Te Waipounamu take on The Soldier's Tale

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Ōtautahi Christchurch-based writer and director Juanita Hepi talks with Bryan Crump about the multi-artform work, Hine Hōia, which is touring for Chamber Music New Zealand to five centres around the country.

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Te Whare Tapere Roundtable Kōrero, Sun: 11am-12pm (bookings essential) | Open Christchurch 

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PANELIST: Open Chch. Te Whare Tapere Roundtable Kōrero. 

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PANELIST: Open Chch. Te Whare Tapere Roundtable Kōrero. 

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MAY 2024

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Te Whare Tapere Roundtable Kōrero, Sun: 11am-12pm (bookings essential) | Open Christchurch

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What is it like being a kaupapa Māori space at the Arts Centre? Join Juanita and Chris in this multidisciplinary, indigenous house of storytelling to find out how they create a space to practice kā toi Māori, facilitating the intergenerational transfer of mātauraka. Attendees are invited to participate in the discussion.

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MAY 2024

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Multidisciplinary storyteller Juanita Hepi and choreographer Sacha Copland are both 42. They both grew up in Ōtautahi. On May 2nd they will talk while dancing for 1 hour. They will try to be honest. Juanita platforms Kāi Tahu, Māori and BIPOC artists on the whenua of her ancestors. To do this she writes, directs, produces, curates, teaches, advises, researches, performs and grabs a teatowel. Sacha has choreographed 20 full length works, performs all over the world and lives in Wellington. Juanita and Sacha want to talk and dance. Juanita and Sacha both talk a lot. They will try to dance, talk and be honest. "Nei rā te mihi. Ko Juanita ahau, I'm a hautūtū, storyteller and people connector, but best of all I am a māmā. "Kia ora I'm Sacha. I'm Pākeha, English Scottish and Polish. I grew up on the land here and for the next 9 weeks I'm a resident artist at the Arts Centre. It's good to be home."

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An Honest Conversation with Juanita Hepi and Sacha Copland

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Multidisciplinary storyteller Juanita Hepi and choreographer Sacha Copland are both 42. They both grew up in Ōtautahi. On May 2nd they will talk while dancing for 1 hour. They will try to be honest. Juanita platforms Kāi Tahu, Māori and BIPOC artists on the whenua of her ancestors.

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CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Nō Hea Tōku Reo? Exhibition

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CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Nō Hea Tōku Reo? Exhibition

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MARCH / APRIL 2024

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CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Hūtia Kā Kara exhibition

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CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Hūtia Kā Kara exhibition

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FEB / MAR 2024

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PRESENTER: Cabinet of curiosities - WORD Festival 

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PRESENTER: Cabinet of curiosities - WORD Festival 

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I met Steph Walker, WORD Christchurch's Executive Director outside Tūranga. She was carrying some kind of trolley. We had a chat, and she asked where I was off to. "Chamber of Horrors" I replied, then realised I mean "Cabinet of Curiosities". I was a bit prescient it seems, as some horrors did await me ...

If you're not familiar with this regular WORD sesh, the Cabinet of Curiosities is a chance for authors to let their freak flags fly - for twelve minutes. They get to pick a topic of their choosing and go to town onto it. The venue this year is Little Andromeda, and it was a full house, so I grabbed a seat in the front row (all the better to take photos) and chatted to the people on either side of me. One was bemoaning that the Film Fest and WORD are on at the same time, and the others were Londoners excited to hear Gabriel Krauze.
Note - there may be some adult content in this blog post.
And so to the proceedings ... Dr Erin Harrington, member of the WORD Trust (and the kind of exciting academic who gives uni a good name) was the MC. Dressed most suitable in a jumpsuit covered in eyes, she introduced the lineup:

Emily Perkins: The Stranger

A teaser first slide hints Emily will be being very literary and talking about The Stranger by Albert Camus. Yeah, nah - slide 2 reveals The Stranger she will be discussing is the 1977 classic album by one William Martin Joel.

She took a trip back in time to being 7, and the time when musical taste is formed by what records your parents own. She especially connected with Billy. maybe because he reminded her a bit of her dad - dark hair and googly eyes. Kids are a bit existentialist too, and the lyrics on The Stranger are perfect for the young pondering life's big questions:

Well, we all have a face
That we hide away forever
And we take them out and show ourselves
When everyone has gone

Emily looked at songs on the album from gloopy cheese-merchant ballads like "Just the way you are" to the thrilling "Movin' Out (Anthony's song)" and its ending of a revving Corvette.

This mini-lecture revealed fun facts and reckons like:

The producer was Phil Ramone, not one of The Ramones - and it might have been George Martin.

Emily was really scared of Split Enz.

Billy wants to be a bad guy, but he's not edgy.

Billy wanted to record "Only the good die young" as a reggae track with a fake Jamaican accent (yikes).

And boy, did Emily sell us on the eternal power and mystery of "Vienna".

But you know that when the truth is told
That you can get what you want
Or you can just get old
You're gonna kick off before you even get halfway through (Oooh)
When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?

Check the Wikipedia article on The Stranger
(my personal Billy Joel fave is 52nd Street, the follow up to The Stranger - hot damn, tracks like Big Shot, Honesty, Zanzibar, and the long and saxbreaktastic Until the Night).

Gabriel Krauze: The Balaclava

Gabriel took us on a tour of the history of the balaclava - from its origins in the Crimean War (the Battle of Balaclava) and onwards. He showed us how it started as a "Templar cap" and was also worn by Antarctic explorers. Wives, sisters, and mums were encouraged to make them for their men in World War One. They were also used as ski masks.

Then on to their use in Formula One, a heat resistant version to protect the faces of drivers.

In the Irish Troubles, they were used by both the IRA and loyalist groups to protect their identities. On the other side, they were used by Sicilian police so the mafia couldn't identify them.

Gabriel linked back to his own use of the balaclava. He used one as a hospitaller in Ukraine (and showed us a pic of himself in Ukraine in full kit and reading the philosopher Schopenhauer).

He took the balaclava as a symbol of care from women, for him it is associated with men at risk - war, skiing, Formula One ... which made me think how the Russian band Pussy Riot and their brightly coloured balaclava fits into that narrative.

Andrew Paul Wood: F. W. Petre 'Lord Concrete'

Erin introduced Andrew Paul Wood as a "galaxy brain" and he is that, and master of some devastating phrases. "Prolapsed Catholic" indeed. His topic was "F.W. Petre - The Churches of Aotearoa New Zealand's first architect". Francis Petre was born in New Zealand in 1847 and was the architect behind some of the most beautiful religious buildings.

"Engineering's not sexy - especially in Christchurch" got one of the biggest laughs of the night. Andrew Paul Wood was a crack up!

Andrew Paul Wood showed us a lot of them and their distinctive features and influences - St Dominic's Priory in Dunedin; Sacred Heart Church, North East Valley, Dunedin; St Patrick's Basilica in Oamaru, and our very own much-missed Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. He called its demolition "a vandalism which I will never forgive".

Francis Petre is also the architect of the Dux de Lux!

Melody Thomas: Animal sex

Podcaster Melody Thomas was a hoot. Which is on point when your topic is animal sex. She had quite the array of provocative slides, and sometimes they came slightly out of order which added to the comic value. It's a stony heart that wouldn't laugh when a slide entitled Bird Dicks pops up unexpectedly.

She introduced us to the hihi, which has really big testicles and sometimes mates face to face. But Melody revealed this is more about forced copulation then beautiful consensual sex.

Apparently 200 million years ago, all male birds had penises. Now only 3% do (including ducks). Teasing out the science as to why this change might have happened, we found out about cloacal kisses as a means of fertilisation, a protein that destroys penises in the egg, and explosive erection mechanisms.

Then we moved along to that denizen of the deep, the angler fish. Males are tiny compared to females, and their method of mating is to attach themselves to a female in a parasitic fashion, then dissolve their being into the female. So the gals are left with only testicles on their outside, having absorbed the males. It seems this happens more than once, as a lady angler fish has been found to be traipsing around with 8 pairs of testicles attached to her. Probably it is not wise to let my husband know about this in an excited frenzy when I came home, he was HORRIFIED.

Juanita Hepi: Aotearoa's native plants

The last speaker of the evening was Ōtautahi artistic powerhouse wahine Juanita Hepi. She took us on a beautiful ride through the wonders of Aotearoa's native plants and "The Bush". She talked about our tree ferns, fungi, and that we all should:

Get rid of hydrangeas and plant natives.

Here are some of the native plants and fungi that Juanita sang the praises of:
Pua o te reinga
Dactylanthus is a fully parasitic flowering plant, completely subterranean, pollinated by pekapeka (the native bat that won Bird of the Year controversially)

Broadleaf, hopbush. The te reo Māori name means "forever". It's antifungal and has more medicinal properties.

Contains neurotoxin. It's a Ngāi Tahu taonga species.

Juanita asks the audience questions - people who answer get drinks vouchers and kawakawa balm. She is funny and there's science and history and te ao Māori in all her explorations.

Kawakawa is really good for burns and insect repellent she says. Kiekie is second only to harakeke for weaving, and you can eat it. The roots of the tall thin kahikatea connect together to give the trees strength.

We ended up at werewerekokako and tūtae-kēhua - ghost poo. What a trip!

Cheers all round, and a thoroughly fun and informative night.

More from the Cabineteers

Emily Perkins

Read Emily's new book:
More by Emily Perkins
Gabriel Krauze

Read Gabriel's book:

Andrew Paul Wood

Read Andrew's new book:
More by Andrew Paul Wood
Melody Thomas

Listen to Melody's podcasts:

Juanita Hepi
Hear Juanita talk to RNZ about her multi-artform work Hine Hoia
Find out more

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WORD Christchurch 2023: Cabinet of Curiosities, Chamber of Horrors - from Balaclavas to Ghost Poo

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Billy Joel, The Balaclavas, Animal sex, Architecture, & Aotearoa's Native Plants - Donna opens the door to this year's WORD Cabinet...

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ARTISITIC DIRECTOR:  Running Amuck Music Video. Song by Byllie Jean.

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ARTISITIC DIRECTOR:  Running Amuck Music Video. Song by Byllie Jean.

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OCTOBER

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DEVELOPMENT SEASON DIRECTOR: Wahine Mātātoa

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DEVELOPMENT SEASON DIRECTOR: Wahine Mātātoa

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Ōtepoti Theatre Lab. 781 likes · 2 talking about this. Established in 2019 to support the development of diverse theatre voices from the south of Aotearoa.

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DEVELOPMENT SEASON DIRECTOR: Ōtepoti Theatre Lab 

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DEVELOPMENT SEASON DIRECTOR: Ōtepoti Theatre Lab 

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Congratulations to the successful programme writers for 2023, Alex Martyn, Cindy Diver and Patty Klinpibul! Public readings of their works will be presented on Monday 30th and Tuesday 31st October 2023 - more details to come.

For general queries, please contact h-j@prospectpark.co.nz

The Playwrights Programme 2023 is made possible with support from our funders, programme partners and supporters: Creative New Zealand, Dunedin City Council, Dunedin Arts Festival, Playmarket, Inati Aotearoa, Theatreworks/InterACT, Better Creative and Dunedin UNESCO City of Literature. THANK YOU <3

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Playwrights Programme - Prospect Park Productions

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Congratulations to the successful programme writers for 2023, Alex Martyn, Cindy Diver and Patty Klinpibul! Public readings of their works will be presented on Monday 30th and Tuesday 31st October 2023 - more details to come.

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Kia ora! Join us at midday on Saturday, 24th June in the Ō Papa Gallery, for a kōrero between Tia Barrett, Isla Huia, and Juanita Hepi on He Pounamu Ko Āu.

Whilst these three creative wāhine are involved in different disciplines - Māori moving image, poetry, and performance art - they are strongly interlinked with the motif of Atua Wāhine Māori.

Atua Wāhine Māori is a significant part of each speaker's practice, and is notable within the exhibition He Pounamu Ko Āu, where artist Tia Barrett combines traditional Māori motifs and contemporary art techniques, highlighting intergenerational relationships and the magnitude of whakapapa in pounamu.

Isla will be accompanying the kōrero with a reading from her new book Talia.

He Pounamu Ko Āu is an exhibition that celebrates and preserves Māori culture and traditions while addressing contemporary issues and struggles of Māori learners in the New Zealand education system. It tells the story of mana wāhine Māori resilience and perseverance, likening it to the journey of pounamu rising to the surface of the earth's crust.

Tia Barrett was born and raised in Ōtautahi, and is now living in Kirikiriroa. She is an emerging Maori moving image and photography practitioner. Her current practice is firmly grounded in celebrating her wahine Māori identity and deepening her connection to whenua through a lens-based practice. She is a 2023 Te Tumu Toi Arts Foundation Springboard recipient and recently graduated with an MVA, first class honours, from AUT. He Pounamu Ko Āu was an outcome of her Masters and a tribute to her Ngāi Tahutanga.

Isla Huia (Te Āti Haunui a-Pāpārangi, Uenuku) is a te reo Māori teacher, writer and musician. Her work has been published in journals such as Catalyst and Awa Wāhine, and her debut collection of poetry, Talia, was released in May 2023 with Dead Bird Books Publishers. She has performed at the national finals of Rising Voices Youth Poetry Slam and the National Poetry Slam, as well as at Christchurch's Word Festival. Isla can most often be found writing in Ōtautahi with FIKA Collective, and Ōtautahi Kaituhi Māori.

Juanita Hepi, Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngati Wai, Ngāpuhi, is a multidisciplinary storyteller exploring the intersections of race, class and gender through indigenous storytelling. She holds a Masters of Māori and Indigenous Leadership, a Graduate Diploma of Teaching and Learning, and a Bachelor of Arts from Toi Whakaari, the NZ Drama School. Juanita has performed across Aotearoa and at Shakespeare's Globe in London. She produces, writes, directs and collaborates on numerous projects including upcoming Hine Hōia with Chamber Music NZ to the intimate solo Ariā. Juanita is a staunch advocate and enabler of arts and artists in Ōtautahi Christchurch

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He Pounamu Ko Āu - Artist kōrero | CoCA Centre of Contemporary Art Toi Moroki

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The Centre of Contemporary Art (CoCA) in Christchurch shows innovative, explorative and sometimes confounding art that will become important history tomorrow.

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Te Whare Tapere - Toi Ōtautahi - The Virtual Arts Office For Christchurch

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DIRECTOR / SCRIPT ADAPTION: CSO Presents: Matariki Around The World

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DIRECTOR / SCRIPT ADAPTION: CSO Presents: Matariki Around The World

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Matariki Around the World - a Kōrero with Miriama Kamo - Toi Ōtautahi - The Virtual Arts Office For Christchurch

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"What is Science in Early Childhood?", "I am not a scientist, I don't know what to do!" "What words do I use to describe science concepts?", "How do I encourage children to develop their working theories about science?" "How can I find out more?" "What if I get it wrong and children aren't getting the right information?".

Many kaiako are unsure about science in ECE - after all, we trained as kaiako, not as scientists, right? Let's flip that narrative to the knowledge that we are all scientists every day. Let's look at what science encompasses and how we can share an interest in science with tamariki. Come prepared to get investigating, to try some experiments and learn more about what science can be within Early Childhood.

Sara De Heer from Ko Taku Reo

Using Stories and Songs to Develop Language and Literacy

Fostering a rich language foundation for deaf and hard of hearing (DHH), and indeed all Akonga is key to ongoing success with executive function, social, literacy, and numeracy skills. Teachers supporting and engaging learners with visual opportunities to develop and enhance language are crucial. Join this workshop to delve into practical strategies for book sharing and songs.

Do you want to connect with other like-minded teachers in seeing an inspiring environment centred around bicultural practices? Then this workshop is for you!You will walk away armed with tools and strategies to put into immediate action with your tamariki and kaiako. This workshop is around our complex IE review research:

How effectively do we implement a bicultural; curriculum programme, practices and pedagogy in our environment? You should come to this workshop if...

You want to learn about the process around linking complex IE to PGC - less work, more effective practices.

Finding ways to collaborate as team

Making a complex IE review fun.

If you are interested in exploring: Understanding Māori culture/values though 'the arts', leadership in Te Ao Māori, supporting children's cultural identity, whanaungatanga (connecting whanau and community) and providing a cultural responsive teaching practice.

What you will take away with you...

ideas to implement into your practice

great connections and whanaungatanga (connections) with people who are as passionate about a bicultural environment as you.

Ways to incorporate a te ao Mäori perspective into the environment

Inspiration from passionate teachers

Ways to nurture whanaungatanga

Practical tools and resources to confidently incorporate bicultural practices into your daily routines.

We know you will get so much out of this fun, inspiring presentation by teachers and hands on experience by looking around the environment and asking questions. We can't wait to see you there!

Nau mai, Haere mai. Weaving kōmore/bracelets is a great way to start your weaving journey.
The skills learned whilst completing your kōmore can easily be applied to weaving many other items. In this workshop we also cover the tikanga embedded into this beautiful traditional artform.

Kay-Lee Jones

Whakamanahia ngā tamariki: Empowering our tamariki through language, culture and identity

University of Canterbury Senior Lecturer Kay-Lee Jones (Te Aitanga a Māhaki, Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau a Kai) will lead a kōrero on the importance of empowering cultural identity/identities and ancestral language/s of our tamariki/mokopuna in our Aotearoa teaching and learning settings.

The whakataukī, Poipoia te kākano, kia puāwai | Nurture the seed and it will blossom, is the foundation for her kōrero, as she tells her own pūrākau and interweaves a new Ngākau Approach to embed culturally empowering practices into teaching and learning environments.

Kay-Lee Jones currently works in Teacher education at Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | The University of Canterbury. She is a proud māmā of three beautiful Māori, Samoan tamariki and has a teaching background in Māori medium settings. Her doctoral study focussed on the pūrākau (stories) of early childhood and primary teachers from Puna Reo 51% + te reo Māori immersion programmes.

Kay-Lee is a teacher of teachers, committed to "helping grow a heart for te Ao Māori". The Board Chair of Te Pā o Rākaihautū describes her as "a great role model not only for her whānau but all who meet her." In addition to winning a UC Teaching award in 2020, Kay-Lee has also been recognised on the national level by the prestigious Ako Aotearoa Sustained Excellence in Tertiary Teaching award - Kaupapa Māori category - only the second teacher at UC to achieve this.

Dr Ali Glasgow, Dr Fuapepe Rimoni, & Associ ate Professo r Robin Averill

Feliuliuagkiga o te au mo he lumanaki taua o fanau

Recognising the moving currents for the sustainable future of our children ( Tokelauan traditional proverb)

Malo e lelei, Kia orana, Talofa lava, Malo ni, Bula vinaka, Fakalofa lahi atu, Warm Pacific Greetings

Understanding Pacific values and integrating these into early childhood learning environments is critically important for Pacific learners' learning and wellbeing. Those working in early childhood settings require in-depth understandings of Pacific perspectives and values to enable Pacific learners to thrive. Engaging the metaphor of the traditional compass helps us to consider the broader cultural context when we navigate ways to work with Pacific learners and their families. Within the book Pacific Educators Speak: Valuing our Values we explore Pacific values and stories shared by Pacific educators. Furthermore, we recognise how vital the values are to Pacific people, and how attending to all of the values holistically can assist educators to think, act and foster the learning and wellbeing of Pacific children, in collaboration with Pacific families, within early childhood settings.

In this presentation we will discuss, in interactive groups, Pacific educators' stories around the nine Pacific values from Tapasā and unpack components of chapters designed to expand our knowledge and understanding of culturally sustaining teaching. Ultimately it is intended that early childhood teachers in this session will consider and discuss ways that they can engage and implement strategies in their teaching in light of the Pacific values to promote and build Pacific cultural competencies.

Tautua nei mo sou manuia taeao.

Serve now for a better tomorrow.

This workshop will be very interactive and practical with hands-on activities. Our Pasifika kindergarten's faiaoga/faiako will be sharing their teaching and learning experiences, ways of being and doing through art, crafts and storytelling/legends.

Hiva, pese/songs, words and phrases from different Pasifika languages will also be part of this talanoa to add to your kato ako/learning kete as you engage with our Pasifika tamaiti, their aiga/famili and their community.

O le tele o sulu e maua ai figota, e mama se avega pe a ta amo fa'atasi.

My strength does not come from me alone but from many.

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"What is Science in Early Childhood?", "I am not a scientist, I don't know what to do!" "What words do I use to describe science concepts?", "How do I encourage children to develop their working theories about science?" "How can I find out more?"

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PRESENTER / WRITER: Common Ground (poetry)

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PRESENTER / WRITER: Common Ground (poetry)

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CREATIVE DIRECTOR / EDITOR: Desperate Fools Music Video

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CREATIVE DIRECTOR / EDITOR: Desperate Fools Music Video

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JANUARY

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Juanita Hepi (Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāi Tukairangi) is a multidisciplinary artist, producer, educator and researcher who has performed extensively throughout Aotearoa, NZ. She toured the Māori Troilus and Cressida to Shakespeare's Globe in London for which she was nominated for a Chapman Tripp award, and starred in Himiona Grace's award winning film The Pā Boys. Juanita is the director of Taki Rua's 2020 te reo Māori touring season, Nga Mānu Rōreka and is completing her final year of a Masters in Māori and Indigenous Leadership. She is currently producing and directing Tūmahana alongside the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and Circo Kali, which is a theatre epic based on the 1849 writings of Matiaha Tiramorehu. Working with this text has been a full circle journey for Juanita whose passions lie in the narratives of her tūrakawaewae / place to stand in Ōtautahi, and her marae at Rāpaki.

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Juanita Hepi (Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāi Tukairangi) is a multidisciplinary artist, producer, educator and researcher who has performed extensively throughout Aotearoa, NZ. She toured the Māori Troilus and Cressida to Shakespeare's Globe in London for which she was nominated for a Chapman Tripp award, and starred in Himiona Grace's award winning film The Pā Boys.

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PRODUCER: Toi Whakaari Decolonisation Symposium

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PRODUCER: Toi Whakaari Decolonisation Symposium

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DIRECTOR: The Worlds First Lovers June 2023

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DIRECTOR: The Worlds First Lovers June 2023

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Director

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Performed by Catherine Shroder, Nick Tipa, Mārama Grant, Grace Turipa, Manu Symes-Hepi, with taonga puoro by Ben Whitaker

With costume design by Amber Bridgman and lighting design by Marty Roberts

Proudly produced by Prospect Park Productions
Made possible thanks to support from Creative New Zealand, Dunedin City Council, Ngā Hua Toi, Puaka Matariki Festival, Better Creative, The Dunedin Yoga Studio, Te Whare o Rukutia and Ōtepoti Theatre Lab. Kā mihi ki a koutou!

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The World's First Lovers - Prospect Park Productions

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Performed by Catherine Shroder, Nick Tipa, Mārama Grant, Grace Turipa, Manu Symes-Hepi, with taonga puoro by Ben Whitaker With costume design by Amber Bridgman and lighting design by Marty Roberts Proudly produced by Prospect Park Productions Made possible thanks to support from Creative New Zealand, Dunedin City Council, Ngā Hua Toi, Puaka Matariki Festival, Better Creative, The Dunedin Yoga Studio, Te Whare o Rukutia and Ōtepoti Theatre Lab.

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PANELIST / TUTOR: Seasoned Festival April 2023

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PANELIST / TUTOR: Seasoned Festival April 2023

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Kaiāwhina / Tutor

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KAIĀWHINA: Be Like Billy at The Court Theatre March 2023

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KAIĀWHINA: Be Like Billy at The Court Theatre March 2023

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Kaiāwhina

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World Premiere of a Court Theatre commission
Billy T James is a legendary New Zealand comedian and cultural icon.

In this new work, Rutene Spooner shares his personal relationship with his childhood hero, Billy T.

Infused with music and humour, Be Like Billy? speaks to our national identity, touching on what being Māori, being a performer and being a Kiwi meant in the 80s, and what it means now.

"'The Showband Era' gave birth to some of Māoridom's greatest entertainers. This play celebrates that whakapapa, tracing all the way back to the cheeky cackle we all know and love. So, what does Māori showmanship look like today?"
- Rutene Spooner, Writer

DOUBLE BILL WITH RĒWENA - BOOK BOTH AND SAVE 10%

From 25 March, The Court will present an exciting double bill of works, both created here in Aotearoa New Zealand, and both featuring just one actor on stage.

Book tickets to Be Like Billy? and in one order and you'll save 10% off Standard, Senior and Friends of the Court tickets.

You can attend both shows on one night or spread the theatrical joy across two separate nights; simply book in one transaction and you'll get the discount.

Key Dates

25 March 2023: Opening night

28 March 2023: Pay What You Can

3 April 2023: Forum - a special performance where audiences get to ask cast and crew questions after the show

15 April 2023: Matinee performance at 2pm

22 April 2023: Closing night

Tickets

Adult $37 - $42

Senior (65+) $35 - $39

Group (6+) 10% Discount on Standard Adult, Friends, Child and Senior price tickets

Friends of The Court Theatre $34 - $37

Child (under 18) $25

Student ID cardholders $25

Community Services or Hāpai Access cardholders $25

Press Reviews

"Spooner lays out this complexity for us in a show that starts with joy and celebration, with nostalgia, then pivots to something more complex when the audience is confronted with the division between laughing at and laughing with. "

Erin Harrington, Flat City Field Notes

Subscribe

Be Like Billy is included in your Super Subscription, or you can bundle it with at least two other shows to Build Your Own subscription.

If you want more Aotearoa plays, you could create an Aotearoa Play Subscriptio n with:

Add on - Cinderella and Te Kuia me te Pungawerewere (Kids)

If you want more Drama in your life, you could create a Drama Lover's Subscription with:

Add on - Sweet Science of Bruising (Performed by our Youth Company)

If you have young people in your life, they might like, a Youth-Friendly Subscription with:

Add on - Sweet Science of Bruising (Performed by our Youth Company)

If you want more to see more New Zealand premieres, you could create a Premiere Subscription with:

If you love music in your theatre, you could create a Music Lover's Subscription with:

Add on - Frozen JR. (Family)

Covid - Your Booking is Safe with Us

To minimise the impact of possible Covid-related closures we employ understudies and swings for our cast and have contingencies to cover essential crew absences.

However, if a performance is affected by Covid and cannot go on, you will not lose out. We will attempt to rebook you to another performance in the show's season or, if that is not possible, we can explore other options with you such as Court account credits or transferring your tickets to another show.

There are currently no Covid-related restrictions on attending The Court Theatre. However, as always, we encourage you to be mindful of good hygiene, for the sake of your own health, and that of other members of the audience, our cast, crew and staff.

If a show is cancelled:

Performances most immediately impacted will be texted - to ensure that your details are up-to-date for this purpose, please log into your account (top right on our web pages) and review them now.

Emails will be sent to all patrons affected outlining the dates of affected performance and the process that will follow to rebook. Typically this will be:

rebooking your seats for the same night of the week within the following two weeks,

endeavouring to book you into a similar spot in the auditorium, if possible.

We telephone anyone we cannot contact via email.

Your new booking will be emailed to you. If you require further changes, please email us.

We ask people not to phone our Box Office but rather to email us with special requests - this is easier for the team to handle when dealing with significant rebookings.

Location

The Court Theatre's auditorium

Running Time

75 minutes, no interval

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World Premiere of a Court Theatre commission Billy T James is a legendary New Zealand comedian and cultural icon. In this new work, Rutene Spooner shares his personal relationship with his childhood hero, Billy T. Infused with music and humour, Be Like Billy?

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CREATIVE DIRECTOR: A Baby Called Sovereignty March 2023

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CREATIVE DIRECTOR: A Baby Called Sovereignty March 2023

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Producer / Director / Performer

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Review: A Baby Called Sovereignty – a koha, a wero, a celebration

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Naomi van den Broek responds to A Baby Called Sovereignty, presented as part of the Off Centre Festival at The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora, Saturday 4 March 2023. “We are not invisible, I know …

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PRODUCER: Off Centre Festival Kick Off Parade 

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PRODUCER: Off Centre Festival Kick Off Parade 

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March 2023

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Te Matatiki Toi Ora The Arts Centre is today releasing the full programme for Off Centre, a festival to celebrate the centre's restoration and the diverse creativity it supports.

With well over 50 programmed events crammed into a single weekend, 3-5 March 2023, Off Centre is bursting with music, comedy, theatre and vibrant entertainment. The great food and unique shopping offered by The Arts Centre's retailers year-round will be complemented by a special festival mākete on both the Saturday and Sunday.

The full programme is a quintessential 'Arts Centre' line up - celebrating local talent, inclusivity, community, and cultural diversity, and offering something for everyone in a shamelessly eclectic mix. The weekend extravaganza includes kid's activities, street performance, circus, spoken word, theatre, dance, classical music, local bands, and some well-known names in the New Zealand music industry. There are even workshops where you can learn to juggle, write poetry, or improve your sketching. Most events are free and family friendly.

Six headline acts represent the very best of contemporary creative talent in Aotearoa:

Tiny Ruins: multi-award-winning Hollie Fullbrook and her indie-folk band bring together a rare blend of eloquent lyrical craft and exquisite musicianship, in concert in The Arts Centre's beautiful Great Hall

Toi Toi Opera: colourful site-specific operatic scenes for everyone to enjoy

th'Orchard Dreamers Reprise: story-telling in song featuring Mark Vanilau, Solomon Smith and th'Orchard crew's first ever single 'Burn It All Down'

The Tony Chestnut & Richard Rhythm Comedy-Thon: Brynley Stent, Rutene Spooner and friends bring us a wild night of top-notch comedy

A Baby Called Sovereignty: a journey with local wāhine through impressive indigenous sound, movement, text, and visual arts led by Juanita Hepi

The Revolver Club: two astounding cabaret evenings with Shay Horay and the team

The festival nods to the past and the future of The Arts Centre as it continues to be a much-loved Christchurch community resource and visitor destination. For fun-loving and nostalgic locals, Lumière Cinemas is bringing back late-night screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show for two nights only. Those interested in new ventures can sign up to tour the on-site Health Technology Centre under development, which exemplifies The Arts Centre's understanding of the potential of creativity beyond, and in collaboration with, the arts as traditionally construed.

Arts Centre Director Philip Aldridge says Off Centre recognises years of patience and hard work after the earthquakes ravaged the heritage site. "The construction work is complete, the fences are coming down and people can once again walk through the centre of the site from east to west. It's a significant occasion and we're putting on a party to celebrate!" Mr Aldridge says he is particularly grateful to Leighs Construction for their restoration work and support as principal sponsor of Off Centre.

Indoor events will be ticketed, and all outdoor shows will be free to the general public, encouraging people to explore the freshly-opened site and wander from activity to activity during the festival.

Tickets are on sale now. Some free events still require booking due to space limitations so please check The Arts Centre's website (www.artscentre.org.nz) for specific events you want to attend.

Off Centre is sponsored by Leighs Construction, along with the Christchurch City Council and Christchurch Casino. Specific performances are sponsored by Anderson Lloyd, Powell Fenwick and Dame Adrienne Stewart.
To arrange interviews, contact:
Shelley Erskine, Engagement Manager: 027 365 1396

shelley@artscentre.org.nz
More Details :
Venue: Te Matatiki Toi Ora The Arts Centre, 2 Worcester Boulevard, Christchurch.

Open daily: 3-5 March 2023.
Festival weekend:
Friday night (6pm to late) includes the free public opening event (6-7pm), which will be a unique multi-artist performance in its own right and a taste of what is to come over the next two days. At the opening, people will walk between the beautifully restored heritage buildings - expect surprises.

Saturday (10am to late) and Sunday (10am to 6pm) will see a vibrant entertainment schedule, with multiple events each hour. A special festival mākete, 10.30am to 4.30pm both days, complements The Arts Centre's usual high-quality food and retail offerings.

There are 88 events in the programme: 60 events are free; others range from pay-what-you can to $60 per person.

Festival details www.artscentre.org.nz/whats-on/off-centre/
About the festival name:
Off Centre will showcase the diversity of the arts and artists from another angle. The celebration provides a platform for artists and creatives to present new work and to restage previous successful work. The festival enables artists to fine-tune scripts, further finesse performances and design elements, and expose new audiences to the ideas of some of our most exciting creative minds.

This is a one-off festival to celebrate the restoration. It signals The Arts Centre's intention to be bold, fun, and inclusive.
Thanks to our sponsors and supporters:
Principal Sponsor: Leighs Construction

Festival Sponsors: Christchurch Casino, Christchurch City Council

Performance Sponsors: Anderson Lloyd, Dame Adrienne Stewart, Powell Fenwick

Festival Supporters: Adgraphix, Phantom Billstickers, Printers Inc, Star Media

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Off Centre, Full Festival Programme Released

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Te Matatiki Toi Ora The Arts Centre is today releasing the full programme for Off Centre, a festival to celebrate the centre's restoration and the diverse creativity it supports. With well over 50 programmed events crammed into a single weekend, 3-5 March 2023, Off Centre is bursting with music, comedy, theatre and vibrant entertainment.

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WRITER: What is it to be a Wāhine Māori maker on the whenua that birthed me? 

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WRITER: What is it to be a Wāhine Māori maker on the whenua that birthed me? 

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WHAT IS IT TO BE A WAHINE MA ORI MAKER ON THE WHENUA THAT BIRTHED ME?

Tē rongo i a koe Ōku kōiwi, ōku toto Kua tuaki tōku ngākau, Kua tuaki tōku wairua Kua riro atu rā Nōku konohi, no tauhou kē Kua ngaro ōku waewae I ngā hiti raima I no longer feel you My bones, My blood My heart and soul have been dismembered I am far away My face belongs to a stranger My feet lost in concrete sheets

LYRICS - BYLLIE JEAN ZETA TRANSLATION - KARI MOANA TE RONGOPATAHI TUNE - JUANITA HEPI

I Am Not Your Dusky Maiden (2021)

Protocol wraps around me like air, so do ethnonational narratives, these are the razor thin experiences of my life. I have laboured on this article for far too long in an attempt to describe the experience of being a BIPOC maker in Te Waipounamu. I'm Mana Whenua. I am a wahine Kāi Tahu maker on the whenua that birthed me, Te Waahi Pounamu/Te Waipounamu and I am the culmination of a thousand genealogies tasked in this moment with a story. I keep repeating myself, (re)presenting the historical facts over and over again. Words taken, no, stolen, no, ripped from our dying mouths- are what I'm really looking for. English words for Māori things, Māori words for English things. We're stuck in a loop of not saying what we really mean. BIPOC, MELAA, Pasifika, Indigenous, Native, disadvantaged, minority when what we really mean is the majority, the original, not White, and all is not White with the world. Angela Davis reminds

us that this language "has nothing to do with numerical presence", "Are Europeans ever referred to as a "minority"? Factually they are in the minority with respect to Asians, Africans, Latin Americans and the rest of the people who populate the globe", this language is infantilising, it derides our sense of self and while many of us use this language to be inclusive, these words perpetuate 'we are meek' and 'they are strong' narratives separating us further from one another and from our mother, Papatūānuku. As I write this piece I hear my Nanna Priscilla (Waitaha, Kāti Māmoe, Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Mutunga, Moriori) urging me to live in the Pākehā world, worried and protective and perhaps even a little hurt in my claims there is no such thing as a Pākehā world, I am institutionalised, I have the letters and credits to my name yet still I know it's not enough to satiate the White gaze. These are the punches living inside my gut that have led me to interrogate the societal conditions of the reality to which I am attached and to ask: Why am I/Wahine Māori reduced to a series of archaic judgements about melanin? This isn't 'the paranoia of my own mind' as James Baldwin put it, but a recurring construct that renders Māori women's voices and stories invisible, to be violated in the shadows and in the sun. Being a body/maker in Te Waipounamu is sometimes just bending to White fragility, accepting indolent 'allyship', maintaining the status quo, remaining hyper aware of my body at all times, cultural taxation, smiling, hands in pockets, saying please and thank you to keep your job, keep your home, keep your kids.

I AM THE CULMINATION OF A THOUSAND GENEALOGIES

ABOVE: I am not your Dusky Maiden by Juanita Hepi and Byllie Jean Zeta, Ōtautahi Tiny Performance Festival, Christchurch Town Hall. Image: Petra Mingneau.

And yet in the profundity of myself as Māori is the knowledge that I arrived into Te Ao Mārama with the whakapapa of the universe, my physical form existing in the womb of my mother as she lay in the womb of her mother eventually born whole and loved and knowing into the storytelling traditions of both my māmā Erihapetia Wikitoria Stone and my pāpā Hotorene Tawatawa Hepi. My whānau knew I was going to be a storyteller before I did, and I have been a storyteller for as long as I can remember. It was at home and the marae where wāhine Māori gathered in groups to tell stories that were hilarious, irreverent, dirty, scandalous, philosophical, heart-breaking, argumentative, historical, challenging, nuanced, explicit and all the while looking after babies, doing the mahi, collectively organising, succession planning and walking sovereign. To be a Brown Woman in a sea of Brown Women is to populate the world with love, I believe that because I have felt that and so I'm drawn to these storytelling conditions that centre and frame whānau and whenua, we are emulating them in our work here. Upon entering the Whitestream storytelling space at 10 years old, however, the most unusual thing happened, with generations of storytelling experience inside and outside of me I went invisible. Ethno-national narratives began early though. The doctrine of discovery arrived with the trinity - the Thief, the Cross and the Peoples who set about turning clay to stone and dreams to dust, stories went underground and Isaac Featherston stroked the pathos of the White Saviour complex urging Whities to 'smooth the pillow of a dying race'. By the time I was born, less than 5% of Māori children had command of te reo Māori, me too but I arrived at a time of great privilege, the crux of the Kōhaka reo movement. Hemmed in by Rogernomics, settler state hegemony and a creeping stasis in relation with Māori activism and/or movements, these early years would have a profound effect on how I experience, translate and transmit stories. I was introduced to Marx before Matiaha Tiramorehu, Heidegger before Homi K Bhabha, Nietzsche before Ngahuia Te Awekotuku and Lacan before Linda Tuhiwai Smith. Luckily decolonisation is grounded in mana motuhake Māori which is to be collectively loved and I was born with karaka dripping from my tongue, ripe for flourishing on the stolen whenua of my ancestors. Where stories had once been an escape and a place to expand my consciousness, here in the Whitestream theatre was no space for me. It is clear in my journey through the arts by the writers we pedestal; Shakespeare, Pinter, Chekhov, Beckett, O'Neill, Miller, Ibsen, Williams, and in the methods we teach; Hagen, Meisner, Adler, Strasberg, Feldenkrais, Stanislavski, Meyerhold, and in the data; "New Zealand's mainstage theatres are dominated by European and Pākehā narratives; between 2011 and 2015 only 6% of productions by main centre theatres were of Māori or Pasifika work. 6 to take a generous view" (Wenley, 2020). And before we 'cancel culture', these things aren't in and of themselves bad because we as humans are capable of respectful critique and reason. It's that collective Whiteness dominates above all and maintains a sub-par standard of human expression that centres individuals as superstars rather than storytellers engaged in collective decision-making. As an example, at drama school they taught Boal but not Freire so the narrative was already constructed around the single image of an artist rather than the intergenerational work of decolonisation and Indigenous sovereignty. In fact, and apart from Kaupapa Māori and Iwi-based initiatives, none of my institutional teachings has included Indigenous storytelling methodologies and therefore each person of whakapapa in those classrooms, theatres, organisations was/ is invisible. Beyond representation, theatre favours Māori men's bodies over Māori

women's bodies in lead roles and leadership roles for as Linda Tuhiwai Smith writes, "they too are caught in the contradictions of a colonised reality" There are few Māori women in performing arts management and technical positions, and yet there are hundreds if not thousands of Māori actors. Could it be that the Whitestream indeed just needs our bodies to tell their stories? It is why we as artists relentlessly pursue our own courses of action. We create our own companies, festivals, events, trusts, art houses, art collectives then we hold our people in their power, as experts, as intergenerational knowledge holders and as valued, most importantly however are the embedded values that drive our processes. Our values aren't boxed inside documents, we live and breathe them every day, manaakitaka, kaitiakitaka, rakatirataka, these are intergenerational ontologies and practical guides that nurture our collective hauora. Pākehā words for Māori things, Māori words for Pākehā things. I'm already over my word count and I've barely even touched the surface of what it is to be a maker in Te Waipounamu. I haven't talked about our potential and our missed opportunities as a Christchurch community or the deficit theorising, hot-takes and polarising race-bait remarks from a media that supplants Te Waipounamu at its heart, racism isn't a place, it's an ideology. I haven't talked about the fallacy of allyship or the integrity of being in relation, our Kāi Tahu storytelling history is missing from this piece and so is an entire timeline of storytelling events from the 1800s to now. I touched on the institution and wished I'd had space to talk about isolation. I haven't talked about the works I've been in or the 40+ works I've created over the past three years, there is also little in the way of technical speak; intentionality, hybridity, liminality. I've purposefully avoided industry clashes out of respect for those involved - we're not at that point where we can talk about the issue because we can't move past blame. I hope we can build the infrastructure that means our artists no longer have to leave their whānau and communities to sustain their careers. Finally, the people who value me most are missing, the Wā Noir crew, Aunty Herena, Jeni Leigh, Bobby Teina Hepi, so many who cared about me when I didn't care about myself, their names, their stories and their contributions to my self-belief and my career. Ko wai au? I am water. Dear scholar, e tohuka, tell me in my sinew when we have arrived, cycled through. Ground into papa, exhale me in, exhale me out, I am connected.

MY WHA NAU KNEW I WAS GOING TO BE A STORYTELLER BEFORE I DID

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BIPOC Women and Non-Binary Playwrights and Theatremakers in Aotearoa New Zealand.

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WRITER: Matariki is not a Pak 'n' Save special - May 2022

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WRITER: Matariki is not a Pak 'n' Save special - May 2022

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Toi Ōtautahi - The Virtual Arts Office For Christchurch

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Matariki is Not a Pak'n'Save Special - Juanita Hepi - Toi Ōtautahi - The Virtual Arts Office For Christchurch

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DIRECTOR / COORDINATOR: Tūmahana Engagement & Consultation

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DIRECTOR / COORDINATOR: Tūmahana Engagement & Consultation

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In 2021 we presented Tūmahana, in 2022 we'll be presenting a series of workshops and wānaka across Te Waipounamu. In 2023, we'll see what happens...

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WRITER / DIRECTOR: 'Te Piki o Tāwhaki' August 2022

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WRITER / DIRECTOR: 'Te Piki o Tāwhaki' August 2022

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https://wordchristchurch.co.nz/programme/te-piki-o-tawhaki-630-pm/

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For one night only, WORD transforms Tūranga to bring to life the story of Tāwhaki, which is woven into the building itself: a tale of mana and tapu, lightning and thunder, intrigue, revenge - and the odd bawdy joke. Using the spectacular central staircase as the stage, with audiences ranged around the balconies on all sides,Tāwhaki will fly you to the heavens in pursuit of matauraka, the knowledge of the gods.

Created by artistic director Juanita Hepi (Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāi Tukairangi) and master storyteller Joseph Hullen (Ngāi Tūāhuriri / Ngāti Hinematua), and presented by singer and taonga puoro virtuoso Ariana Tikao (Ngāi Tahu) and kapa haka leader Corban Te Aika (Ngāi Tahu), this is your chance to hear a uniquely Murihiku Ngāi Tahu telling of a story that is well over 1000 years old.

Please note that while some seats are available, most audience members will be standing for 30 minutes. First in, first served - there are limited numbers.

With support from the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, Christchurch City Libraries, and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu.

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For one night only, WORD transforms Tūranga to bring to life the story of Tāwhaki, which is woven into the building itself: a tale of mana and tapu, lightning and thunder, intrigue, revenge - and the odd bawdy joke.

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A sound and movement performance at The Great Hall, The Arts Centre. Ōtautahi. 

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Roving performance for Christchurch art gallery's closing of  Te Wheke exhibition.

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ADVISOR / MENTOR: TĪWAI - MAP Research Exchange 

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ADVISOR / MENTOR: TĪWAI - MAP Research Exchange 

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MAR-MAY 2022

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Movement Labs – Movement Art Practice | MAP

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Movement Labs offer local choreographers, dancers, dance teachers, students and community dancers the opportunity to learn from an inspiring guest tutor. We work with both local, national and international artists who share their creative process, resources, experience, and knowledge in a workshop e…

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This publication is MAP's first collection of writing from our community It is a platform for MAP's INHOUSE STUDIO ARTISTS, DANCERS, CHOREOGRAPHERS, and MOVERS OF AOTEAROA to share WORDS, SCORES, CLASSES, IMAGES it is intended as a source of INSPIRATION, to be a MEMENTO and MOMENTO it is here as an OFFERING for your AUTUMN and YOUR BODY'S JOURNEY it is here to LET YOU KNOW what MAP is up to, or not it is here to SWALLOW YOU WHOLE ALL THE GOOD, ALL THE BAD, ALL THE DISGUSTING AND ALL THE WONDERFUL.

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KAUPAPA MĀORI RESEARCH ADVISOR: Young & Hungry schools tour

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KAUPAPA MĀORI RESEARCH ADVISOR: Young & Hungry schools tour

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FEB - MAY

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We support young and emerging creatives to experience, learn and create theatre that inspires themselves and others.

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WRITER: 'A fine line' Autumn Edition 2022

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WRITER: 'A fine line' Autumn Edition 2022

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NZ Poetry Society http://www.poetrysociety.org.nz/

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A big-hearted donation from the Windrift Haiku group means that we can publish a small selection of haiku from our members. Haiku can be on any theme and will be published in a fine line magazine. Send up to four haiku by 10 December 2021. See submission guidelines at https://poetrysociety.org.nz/poems-reviews/a-fine-line-quarterly-magazine Submit haiku to Gail Ingram [...]

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A big-hearted donation from the Windrift Haiku group means that we can publish a small selection of haiku from our members. Haiku can be on any theme and will be published in a fine line magazine. Send up to four haiku by 10 December 2021.

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APRIL

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With no rehearsal, no director, a different actor each night, and a script waiting in a sealed envelope on stage, internationally acclaimed White Rabbit, Red Rabbit, by Iranian writer Nassim Soleimanpour, is an audacious theatrical experiment and a potent reminder of the transgressive and transformative power of theatre.

Forbidden to leave his native Iran, Soleimanpour wrote a play which travels the world in his place. The audience joins each different performer on a journey into the unknown; stumbling upon the personal and profound, the limits of liberty and ultimately where theatre can take you.

Wednesday April 13 7.00PM - Emma Cusdin

Wednesday April 13 8.30PM - Tom Eason

Thursday April 14 7.00PM - Ella Wallace

Friday April 15 7.00PM - Isayah Snow

Friday April 15 8.30PM - Juanita Hepi

Saturday April 16 7.00PM - Hester Ullyart

Saturday April 16 8.30PM - Shay Horay

Sunday April 17 7.00PM - Josiah Morgan

White Rabbit Red Rabbit was originally produced by Volcano Theatre in association with Necessary Angel and Wolfgang Hoffmann. Dramaturgy by Daniel Brooks and Ross Manson.

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With no rehearsal, no director, a different actor each night, and a script waiting in a sealed envelope on stage, internationally acclaimed White Rabbit, Red Rabbit , by Iranian writer Nassim Soleimanpour, is an audacious theatrical experiment and a potent reminder of the transgressive and transformative power of theatre.

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Toi Maori Aotearoa - Maori Arts New Zealand

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Description
The hui aims to gather Māori Theatre practitioners to network, discuss and workshop issues pertaining to Māori Theatre in Aotearoa.

The National Māori Theatre Hui 2018 is at Rāpaki (Wheke Marae) which is 47 min (27.2 km) from the Christchurch airport. While making your arrangements - please factor this in. If you need transport to get to the marae when you get to Christchurch please contact Jeni-Leigh Walker (email below).

Venue:
Rāpaki (Wheke Marae)
Rāpaki Drive
Ōtautahi

Price:
Full Price: $120

​ Registration Information
Himiona Grace - admin@maoriart.org.nz
or call 04 801 7914 ext. 710

If you have any questions, please contact:
Jeni-Leigh Walker
jeniwalker789@gmail.com
This year's National Māori Theatre Hui is hosted by Te Whare ​ with support from Toi Māori Aotearoa, Taki Rua and funding from Creative New Zealand,

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Description The hui aims to gather Māori Theatre practitioners to network, discuss and workshop issues pertaining to Māori Theatre in Aotearoa. The National Māori Theatre Hui 2018 is at Rāpaki (Wheke Marae) which is 47 min (27.2 km) from the Christchurch airport. While making your arrangements - please factor this in.

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Started: 2022

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PRESENTER: Hine Aroaro Pari Kārangaranga - Avonside Girls High School Mana Wāhine Programme Presentation

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PRESENTER: Hine Aroaro Pari Kārangaranga - Avonside Girls High School Mana Wāhine Programme Presentation

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FEBRUARY

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Some of our awesome rakatahi in theatre mode.

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PRESENTER: Tākere - UC Māori Pasifika 1st Year scholars -  2 day Interpersonal skills workshop -

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PRESENTER: Tākere - UC Māori Pasifika 1st Year scholars -  2 day Interpersonal skills workshop -

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FEBRUARY

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Flat City Field Notes - A review by Erin Harrington.

JANUARY

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PRESENTER: Robots 'vs' Classics for WORD Festival 2021. 

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PRESENTER: Robots 'vs' Classics for WORD Festival 2021. 

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When is a festival not a festival? When it's a festival-within-a-festival! On Saturday evening, drop into Foundation at Tūranga for a selection of back-to-back readings, games, interactive poetry, talks and more. Featuring the line-up from the previously advertised New Regent Street pop-up festival, including some of the most fun and innovative festival guests and work! Foundation will be open for (seated) drinks and food; come and go throughout the evening.
Please note: Tickets are not required to attend free events. All events are general admission seating. This event will be one-out, one-in to ensure numbers do not exceed the venue capacity. The safety of our audience is paramount: please arrive early, scan in and wear a mask. Audience numbers are capped under COVID Alert Level 2 and social distancing measures will be in place within each venue.
Supported by:

Set 1 5.00pm - 5.30pm

Ōtautahi Kaituhi
Works by Māori Writers
"We acknowledge mana whenua Ngāi Tūāhuriri and Ngāti Wheke.
We are an open hapori for Māori Writers living in Ōtautahi interested in storytelling in all forms. "
Featuring: Siobhan Tumai, Arielle Kauaeroa, DK Verrian, Kahurangi Bronsson-George, Isla Reeves

Set 2 5.30pm - 6.00pm

Canterbury Poets' Collective
A mini showcase of local talent with new work from members of the Canterbury Poets' Collective.

Featuring: John Allison, Catherine Fitchett, James Norcliffe, Gail Ingram

Set 3 6.00pm - 6.20pm

Starling Alumini
Starling is an online literary journal showcasing the best new poetry and prose from New Zealand writers under 25. We've brought together some of their alumni to celebrate the launch of its twelfth issue.
During the breaks:
The Poetry Dispensary
Featuring: Claudia Jardine, E Wen Wong, Cerys Fletcher, Amelia Kirkness
Giant Fridge Magnet Poetry
A haiku, a limerick, a proverb or a pun - intimate short works, for your ears only. Line up and listen in for a unique one-on-one poetry fix.

Performed by Josiah Morgan

Create your own public poem! With special thanks to MagnetsNZ

Set 4 6.30pm - 7.00pm

A love note, a break up, a query, commendation or an update. Letters to Dead Authors

We invited a bunch of living authors and storytellers to write to dead ones.

Featuring: Brindi Joy, Erik Kennedy, AJ Fitzwater, Gwynneth Porter, Chessie Henry

Set 5 7.10pm - 7.40pm

Robots Vs Classics
How would Shakespeare fare if fed through grammarly? What gets lost - or gained - in a google translation of Pablo Neruda? What would Microsoft's grammar checker do to Chekov's prose? We've invited writers to sacrifice a 'classic' piece of writing to the algorithms and strictures of technology - let's see what comes out the other side.

Featuring: Moata Tamaira, Juanita Hepi, Josiah Morgan, Kyle Mewburn

Set 6 7.50pm - 8.30pm

Dice Roll Poetry
The roll of the dice will dictate parameters for poems and prose written on the spot.
We have a stellar collection of fast-thinking, rhyme-spinning writers on their quest to create a thing of beauty (or just lols) from chaos!

Featuring: Brendon Bennetts, Melanie McKerchar, Briana McZant, Georgie Sivier, Ciaran Searle, Nathan Joe, Andrew Todd

Set 7 8.40pm - 9.20pm

Salty Spiels
All aboard for an array of performances from portside poets and well seasoned writers. Salty rants, emotional voyages and odes to the ocean.

Featuring: Rebecca Nash, Popi Newbery, Jadwiga, Ben Brown, Faumuina Felolini Maria Tafuna'i, Hester Ulyart

Set 8 9.30pm - 10.00pm

A series of readings from romantic to raunchy, sensual to sordid. Local and visiting writers share works that will tease, tantalise and titillate, best accompanied by a stiff drink.

Featuring:
Laura Borrowdale, Danielle O'Halloran-Thyne, Amy Blythe, Siobhan Tumai, Emily Writes, Nathan Joe

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FOUNDATION POP-UP FESTIVAL (AKA THE NOT-QUITE-NEW REGENT STREET POP-UP FESTIVAL)

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While COVID venue restrictions mean we can't actually hold the New Regent Street pop-up festival on New Regent Street, we can bring you the same lineup of back-to-back readings, games interactive poetry, talks and more in a single sweet venue: Foundation at Tūranga. Full programme online soon.

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CREATIVE DIRECTOR / PERFORMER: I Am Not Your Dusky Maiden

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CREATIVE DIRECTOR / PERFORMER: I Am Not Your Dusky Maiden

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https://www.tinyfest.co.nz/2021/i-am-not-your-dusky-maiden/

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INTERVIEW (RNZ): TINY Performance Festival

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INTERVIEW (RNZ): TINY Performance Festival

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November

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A dance work exploring the sometimes toxic power imbalance between choreographers and dancers is part of the line up for this year's Ōtautahi TINY Performance Festival.

The festival started in 2019 as a platform and a community hub for the next wave of performance makers and audiences in Christchurch.

It had to be cancelled last year due to the pandemic. But this year the show will go on, even if some rehearsals have had to happen over Zoom. Lynn Freeman talks to two of the major artists.

Tāmaki Makaurau-based choreographer Katrina Bastian and her dancer Olivia are presenting Extanz Vol. 1: An Epic on Power, based on hundreds of interviews with dancers who've felt exploited and pushed beyond their limits.

Meanwhile Juanita Hepi's multi-disciplinary performance I am not your Dusky Maiden also incorporates responses from a range of wāhine/women to that archaic phrase. Juanita says she's delighted and relieved the festival can go ahead:

See terms of use.

Recent stories from Standing Room Only

Podcast (MP3) Oggcast (Vorbis)

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The return of the TINY Performance Festival

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A dance work exploring the sometimes toxic power imbalance between choreographers and dancers is part of the line up for this year's Otautahi TINY Performance Festival. The festival started in 2019 as a platform and a community hub for the next wave of performance makers and audiences in Christchurch.

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WRITER: 'My Favourite' for Bulletin Magazine

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WRITER: 'My Favourite' for Bulletin Magazine

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NOVEMBER

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First your scale impressed me - at seventeen metres you were massive. Then colours, blues greens and browns like the tukutuku panels at my marae Rāpaki, which sits on (and you'll like this) the Banks Peninsula - is that the gift you're talking about? A whole peninsula? Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū?

I remember sitting in the darkness on the floor with a bunch of strangers and you told us a 64-minute story you'd been fluctuating on for ten years. My God! I thought, ten years is a long time to hold a story. Mind you, some people hold their stories forever and it makes them sick. But I listened deeper and passed through the surface, your homogenisation annoyed me, your satire excited me. And you told me your full name In Pursuit of Venus [Infected], and that you had to compartmentalise down because time and space (and probably money) couldn't handle your epic scale.

Two months later we were separated - by ocean and by pandemic.

So now I'm seeing you in your compact state and I'm quietly protective. I want the whole world to see all seventeen metres of your storied history, and yet I want you for myself because what if they don't get the joke? What if they only see old stuff, dead stuff, extinct stuff? My mum would say "Well, who is they?" And I guess the answer is you dear reader, silent witness.

Beyond your borders however is the mana of wāhine Māori in creative space/time, you emerge from Lisa Reihana like Hineahuone from the clay, you are sent outwards like the poetry of Hine-Haaka and embraced in the knowing of Hineraukatauri.

There is a wider social implication in your content where exists a tension, taut with complexity and uncomfortable, painful even. It is a legacy of colonisation in Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa and you are a moment in colonised time, a representation of ideas, an employer of actors and technicians, a piss-take, but mostly you are quite obviously a reflection of myself. You look at me, I look at you, our ideas meet in the space between and voilà, you remain the same while I have changed a little.

Kia ora, ā, kā mihi, Juanita

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Lisa Reihana - Sex Trade, Gift for Banks, Dancing Lovers, Sextant Lesson (18550) (19205)

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Dear Sex Trade, Gift for Banks, Dancing Lovers, Sextant Lesson (18550) (19205), I'm surprised to see you here, and I'm conflicted. At once I love you then I hate you. Do you remember the first time I saw you in your entirety?

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Dec

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PressReader.com - Digital Newspaper & Magazine Subscriptions

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Digital newsstand featuring 7000+ of the world's most popular newspapers & magazines. Enjoy unlimited reading on up to 5 devices with 7-day free trial.

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DRAMATURG / SCRIPT ADVISOR: Ōtepoti Writers Lab

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DRAMATURG / SCRIPT ADVISOR: Ōtepoti Writers Lab

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Dramaturg/Script Advisor to Jessica Latton. Jul-Oct 2021

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Despite the challenges of recent months the three writers involved in the Otepoti Theatre Lab Playwrights Programme will have their new works read for the public for the first time. Amy Wright, Jessica Latton and Martin Swann talk to Rebecca Fox.
At heart they all love sharing a good story.

Amy Wright, Jessica Latton and Martin Swann have always been creative, often working behind the scenes in theatre and other productions.

Earlier this year each decided the time was right for a new challenge.

So they applied for the Otepoti Theatre Lab Playwrights Programme - a 10-week course that helps emerging playwrights develop a work with the encouragement of a dramaturg and collective sessions to support them.

The last stage of the programme is a workshop-rehearsal period with a professional director and actors, who then go on to do a public reading of the work.

That public reading is imminent for this year's crop of programme playwrights to their great anticipation and nervousness.

A journey

Wright loves how writing can communicate feelings, emotions and make people laugh.

''I'm fascinated with people's stories, how people react differently, how characters develop.''

She has always written - watching the musical Cats inspired her love of theatre - but it was only during university doing an honours in theatre studies that she became exposed to writing plays and started off by writing a couple of one-act plays.

More recently she has been working as a stage manager for Dunedin theatre productions and attending the playwrights' programme sister sessions, Otepoti Writers Lab, where she has enjoyed the collegiality and exercises provided.

She had initial success with her play The Bees at the End of the World, which was one of 10 plays shortlisted for Playmarket's b4-25 competition last year, and her work Henchmen, which was highly commended in the same competition. She also had a section of her play Sweet Girl performed as part of the 2019 Unesco Cities of Literature Short Play Festival.

It was through past playwrights' programme alumni that she heard of the programme and thought it sounded like something she was keen to do, so she applied.

She was accepted, paired with Wellington dramaturg Angie Farrow and director Jo Randerson, and began working on her play Wish Yeti Were Here.

''It's good - a nice challenge. I wanted to challenge myself.''

Wright has found the programme has provided a great structure to keep her on track and the advice and feedback from her dramaturg and the other writers in the programme really helpful.

''The deadline has been a challenge but I'm pleased with what I've come up with.''

Her play is about a yeti who goes on a journey of discovery after finding a letter from a dead hiker.

''It is a journey into the human world for the first time.''

She has stepped out of her comfort zone to write about a fantastic creature in a way that breaks the ''fourth wall''. In the past her characters have been more naturalistic, ''fly on the wall'' type stories.

''I've experimented with a different way of writing to broaden my skill set.''

Hearing her work read by actors is a bit nerve-racking but the idea is to get her work out there.

''Live audiences and the interaction you get from that, you don't get from any other form. It's exciting to be heard.''

Wright hopes to continue working on writing plays and is working on increasing her confidence to encourage people to perform her works.

She plans to apply to do a master's in stage management next year.

Magic realism

Jessica Latton (Waitaha, Kai Tahu) is also stepping out of her comfort zone and trying something new.

No stranger to theatre - she is co-director of Ake-Ake Theatre Company and often directs work - Latton has immersed herself in the world of devised theatre over the years.

So rather than working to a script, Latton and her cast work together to come up with storylines in rehearsal in a more organic process.

''It's a collaborative approach informed by music, movement and design.''

However, she liked the idea of a challenge, of writing down the words and having a mentor for the process, so applied for the playwrights' programme with her idea for The World's First Lovers.

''I'm getting older as a dancer. Physically, your body changes how we continue storytelling.''

Discovering her dramaturg and director would be Juanita Hepi, of Christchurch, was the icing on the cake.

They had met before and both have family connections to the marae at Rapaki on Banks Peninsula.

''That this project has drawn us together is special. To work with her is an absolute privilege.''

Latton's play is about characters in Maori mythology, such as Tane, the god of forests and land mammals; Hine-ahu-one, who is formed from the earth; and Atua, a supernatural being.

''There are stratas of storytelling from the celestial realm to the human realm with personal stories that affect us all moving through it.''

Woven through are stories about people she has known over years of living in Dunedin that came to her in the writing process.

''Between the godly realm and these stories, there are these small intimate moments.''

Her inspiration came from a dance workshop she did with Ngai Tahu dancer Rachel Ruckstuhl-Mann.

''Moving like that was quite life changing. It became a real challenge how to translate that deep, profound movement into language and then translate that to actors and to be able to connect with an audience.''

Her yoga - she owns her own studio - cycling, and being out in nature all help her thinking and development of her work.

''I'd be meditating, imagining what it would be like being created for the first time.''

Despite it being a different way of working from what she is used to, she is loving it and is not unfamiliar with the process.

''Juanita is a fount of understanding of Maori storytelling. She encourages me to look at things. It opens up doors for me. It's exciting.''

It is the first time she has handed a piece of her own work over to another director to be staged.

''You can't hold on too tight. It's way better to open it up to all their skill and magic.''

Exploring dynamics

Martin Swann is more used to penning poetry than plays.

However, after joining the Otepoti Writers Lab sessions, the Mainfreight manager decided to explore other forms of writing.

As part of that he thought he would do a submission to the playwrights' programme more as an exercise than anything.

''I was surprised when I got a yes.''

No stranger to theatre, Swann along with wife, actor and director Ellie, opened the Athenaeum theatre, where he works doing the lighting and sound.

But writing a play required a different approach to poetry, he says. It meant not just writing text but movement and interactions between characters.

''Writing poetry is normally a quite a solitary practice, so this is the first time I've collaborated but I've enjoyed it.

''I like being able to explore the dynamics between people and play with that. I'm a creative person, so there is no limitation, really.''

It also meant he has had to leave his technical hat in the theatre.

''At the start I thought 'how am I going to stage it, light it?' Then I kind of had to forget about that and think it's not my job - it's my job to write the script then give it to someone else to stage.''

He has been paired with Christchurch dramaturg Carl Nixon and Dunedin director Alex Wilson.

''It was daunting at first, but everybody involved is really nice and it's valuable to get feedback as it improves your work at the end of the day.''

His play Unspoken is about toxic masculinity, identity and expectations of what a Kiwi bloke should be.

''It's a topic that interests me, not being a typical ''man's man'' myself. Why it has been defined that way has always interested me.''

It has been a bit of a juggle with his work being busy during lockdown and trying to write at the end of busy days.

''But I love it. It's quite freeing and I like a challenge.''

He would love to continue writing plays and has ideas for short stories as well - it was a short story that inspired the toxic masculinity theme for the play, he says.

''Theatre is a powerful way to get your ideas out there but putting yourself out there is quite unnerving. I'm looking forward to seeing it in real life.''

The history

The Otepoti Playwrights Programme and the Otepoti Theatre and Writers Labs are initiatives set up in 2019 by Dunedin theatre company Prospect Park Productions, run by HJ Kilkelly and Emily Duncan.

The company specialises in new work development and creating and facilitating platforms for local theatre artists and writers as well as the Dark Dunedin podcasts and theatre productions.

As part of that the company has set out to provide a home for Dunedin creatives by taking the lease on office and workshop space in the Carnegie Centre.

Kilkelly said with the Fortune gone, Dunedin lacked a focus for theatre and workshop and rehearsal space, so they set about creating a space where creatives could drop in to chat with others as well as host sessions for writers.

''I'd love it to be fizzing at all times.''

They have secured some funding from the Dunedin City Council and hire out the spaces to those outside the sector, which helps with some of the bills.

''We're forever fundraising and looking for sponsorship.''

With the sector continuing to struggle in Covid-19 times it is even more important for the arts and its creatives to be supported to continue their work, she says.

They were able to continue the writers' labs and playwrights' programme online during lockdown.

Seeing the playwrights' work come to fruition is Kilkelly's favourite time of year.

''We've got an incredible programme with three new writers.''
Otepoti Theatre Lab Playwrights Programme play readings
October 4-5,
Lantern Room at Petridish, Dunedin

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Despite the challenges of recent months the three writers involved in the Otepoti Theatre Lab Playwrights Programme will have their new works read for the public for the first time. Amy Wright, Jessica Latton and Martin Swann talk to Rebecca Fox. At heart they all love sharing a good story.

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ARIĀ: in response to The Mist and The Horizon by Nathan Pōhio. Oct 2021

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Performance. Ariā: Juanita Hepi

Saturday, 28 August, 1:30 pm

Responding to the work of Nathan Pōhio in The Mist and the Horizon, Juanita Hepi brings a new site-responsive interarts work to the Ō Raki North Gallery at CoCA where she explores concepts of loss, grief, birth, death, the colour red, tradition, ritual, representation and the sense of being apart from, but connected to ...

Using her body, Hepi responds to visual provocations layered throughout the space. For Hepi, layering is a notion that mirrors whakapapa, which is deeply entrenched in Ngāi Tahu creation narratives, knowledge systems, and ways of being and seeing. Parallel with whakapapa is the notion of location, which for humans is intrinsically connected to belonging, time and space. These in turn cycle through a technological age of AI, digital recognition, avatars, consent and growing existential sub-cultures. As if trapped in two worlds, How do we relate? What is connection? And how does that inform 'seeing'?

Juanita Hepi (Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Wai, Moriori, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāpuhi) is a multidisciplinary storyteller exploring the intersections of race, class and gender through indigenous storytelling and cross-cultural collaborations. She holds a Masters of Māori and Indigenous Leadership with Distinction, a Graduate Diploma of teaching and Learning and a Bachelor of Arts from Toi Whakaari, the NZ Drama School. Juanita has performed on stages across Aotearoa including; The Court Theatre, Auckland Theatre Company, Bats and Shakespeare's Globe in London. In 2021, Juanita recently adapted, directed and co-produced Tūmahana alongside the CSO and Cirko Kali, directed Te Rongomaiwhiti which had its Pōneke premiere at the Kia Mau Festival and is the Artistic Director of Te Piki o Tāwhaki: The Ascent of Tāwhaki for the WORD Christchurch Festival, 2021.

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Ariā: Juanita Hepi | CoCA Centre of Contemporary Art Toi Moroki

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Saturday, 28 August, 1:30 pm Responding to the work of Nathan Pōhio in The Mist and the Horizon, Juanita Hepi brings a new site-responsive interarts work to the Ō Raki North Gallery at CoCA where she explores concepts of loss, grief, birth, death, the colour red, tradition, ritual, representation and the sense of being apart from, but connected to ...

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GUEST SPEAKER: The Pā Boys Screening 2021

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GUEST SPEAKER: The Pā Boys Screening 2021

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Canterbury Film Society

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The Aotearoa Film Festival is a public open event. These seven films are free/koha and everyone is welcome. Our festival starts with an afternoon screening on Sunday 4 July and finishes with evening double-feature on Wednesday 7 July.

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It's often hard for New Zealand directors to get financial support to make and promote indigenous film. Taking them to festivals - which many deserve - and then to local theatres is often impossible unless they're blockbusters, so many have their quick moment in the sun, then fade into near oblivion. It's been our conscious decision to celebrate here the home-grown talent of directors such as Gaylene Preston, Tearepa Kahi, Himiona Grace, Rebecca Tansley, Armagan Ballantyne, Sam Neill and Geoff Murphy, and we've chosen some of Aotearoa's cinematic best - seven films to warm your winter Matariki nights!

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Most of our films will be at our usual venue in the Christchurch Art Gallery with seating for over 170 people. There are no reservations for this venue - just come along a little early to be sure of getting seat.

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Our partners-in-film, Alice Cinemas and Lumiere are each screening a film as part of the festival. Please note there are very limited seats for these films so we encourage advanced bookings for these screenings.

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Me ngāhāu tātou! Let's celebrate.

Rebecca Tansley | 2018 | 99 mins | NZ | PG

Alice Cinemas, alice.co.nz
Limited seats available - please call Alice Cinemas on 03 365 0615 to reserve your ticket.

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"Tansley's documentary feasts on the sheer beauty of the Bubeníčeks' work - the music, the theatricality, the costumes, the suite of achingly expressive pas de deux at the heart of the piece. It also presents a delicately traced picture of the Old World at sea in the New, and vice versa. The Bubeníčeks arrive apparently unaware that the work they have been invited to stage poses significant problems for Moss Patterson, the Māori cultural adviser contracted by the RNZB. New Zealand International Film Festival 2018

The Heart Dances - the Journey of The Piano Showtimes in Christchurch Central | Alice Cinemas Alice

Te Arepa Kahi | 2016 | 93 mins | NZ | G

Christchurch Art Gallery

It's the perfect tribute to a song that is ingrained in this country's past, present and future, and generally just a really good time. Siena Yates, NZ Herald

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"Dalvanius Prime, the man who made it happen, enjoyed an international R&B career in the 70s. He returned from Sydney to Taranaki to nurse his dying mother and stayed to embrace his culture and Te Reo Māori. Collaboration with singer Prince Tui Teka led him to Māori language composer Ngoingoi Pēwhairangi. Together they composed 'Poi E': in this film you will hear the first ever recording, made soon after. Adding embellishments that did not please his co-composer but impressed her mokopuna, he persuaded his Taranaki whānau, the Patea Māori Club, to perform it. A man on a mission, chihuahuas under each arm, he pulled together a diverse and talented bunch of collaborators to record the song and crowdfund a brilliant music video that, amongst other things, captured the vitality and pride of his hometown facing hard times." New Zealand International Film Festival 2016

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Wednesday 7 July DOUBLE-FEATURE

Sam Neill, Judy Rymer | 1995 | 52 mins | UK/NZ | E

Christchurch Art Gallery

Not much about Sam Neill's ordinary leading-man roles (in films like Jurassic Park) and even his better ones (in The Piano and My Brilliant Career) is preparation for his tart, perceptive directorial voice in a very good film of his own. Janet Maslin, The New York Times

"Part of the British Film Institute's Century of Cinema series in which some of the world's most respected directors investigate their national cinema. Cinema of Unease examines the cultural and historic context from which the New Zealand film industry grew, and explores the emergence of a national cinematic style. While obviously dated by the fact it was made twenty years ago, Sam Neill's observations are still compelling, even if he himself no longer agrees with that point of view." New Zealand Film Commission

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"Neill swiftly takes us through the social changes of the mid-twentieth century, linking them to the development of New Zealand's distinct cinematic identity. From the 1970s onward, as Neill's career began, the country's cinema turned to complex, even frightening themes. Both the nuclear family and the order of society were upended, rejected in favour of a new type of freedom. Neill describes the change as "Gothic", which fits perfectly. Newer movies frequently explored intense subject matter, external horrors and, frequently, the troubled side of the human mind... Delivered through this personal lens, Cinema of Unease is a combination of memoir and chronicle... For anyone interested in this country's legacy of great movies, Cinema of Unease serves as the perfect introduction." Rachael Crawley, Films Fatale
Cinema of Unease | Film | NZ On Screen

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2021 Aotearoa Film Festival | Canterbury Film Society | Christchurch

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The Aotearoa Film Festival is a public open event. These seven films are free/koha and everyone is welcome. Our festival starts with an afternoon screening on Sunday 4 July and finishes with evening double-feature on Wednesday 7 July. ​ It's often hard for New Zealand directors to get financial support to make and promote indigenous film.

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PANEL HOST: The Next Generation. WORD 2021

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PANEL HOST: The Next Generation. WORD 2021

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The Next Generation

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DIRECTOR / SCRIPT ADVISOR: Te Piki o Tāwhaki, the ascent of Tāwhaki. WORD 2021

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DIRECTOR / SCRIPT ADVISOR: Te Piki o Tāwhaki, the ascent of Tāwhaki. WORD 2021

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Te Piki o Tāwhaki

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Confluence. Aug 2021

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Curated by Daisy Speaks, Confluence is a celebration of the vā: a bringing together of the musical brilliance of Judah Band and The Byllie Jean Project with words from Ben Brown, Karlo Mila, Juanita Hepi, Dietrich Soakai, Hana Pera Aoake, Ruby Solly and Tusiata Avia.

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CO-DIRECTOR: Circus & Kapahaka for Tīrama Mai 2021

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CO-DIRECTOR: Circus & Kapahaka for Tīrama Mai 2021

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Ōtautahi Matariki Festival

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PRESENTER / WRITER: Te Urungi Performance - Mar 2021

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PRESENTER / WRITER: Te Urungi Performance - Mar 2021

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18 March 2021

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Manawa Titi Programme scholars w/ Tā Tipene O'Regan and members of Te Runanga o Waihōpai. Te Rakitauneke wharenui in background. 

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Manawaa Tītī Scholarship - Ngāi Tahu Leadership Programme - 2017

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Manawaa Tītī Scholarship - Ngāi Tahu Leadership Programme - 2017

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Kura Reo Kāi Tahu sponsorship through KMK

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Kura Reo Kāi Tahu sponsorship through KMK

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Kotahi Mano Kaika - The Ngāi Tahu language Strategy.

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Kura Reo Kāi Tahu

(Intermediate to Advanced)

Now that you've got a bit of te reo under your belt, why not come along to our Kura Reo Kāi Tahu.

Kura Reo Kāi Tahu is a week long immersion wānaka with the focus of developing an individual's depth, quality and fluency of te reo Māori while also learning Kāi Tahu history. From kōrero ōkawa (formal language), to kōrero ōpaki (informal), kīwaha (idioms) to wetewete reo (grammar), make sure you bring all of your papakupu to Kura Reo Kāi Tahu. The teachers at Kura Reo Kāi Tahu are our exponents of te reo Māori who have a passion for revitalising te reo Māori and are often our KMK champions.

Kura Reo Kāi Tahu is a whānau friendly event, but please note, your children must be able to speak te reo Māori in order to attend. Please be aware, however, that if numbers fill up quickly, the Kura Reo Kāi Tahu is for Kāi Tahu whakapapa registered members first. Kura Reo Kāi Tahu is held in January every year.

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Now that you've got a bit of te reo under your belt, why not come along to our Kura Reo Kāi Tahu. Kura Reo Kāi Tahu is a week long immersion wānaka with the focus of developing an individual's depth, quality and fluency of te reo Māori while also learning Kāi Tahu history.

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Ka Poupou Reo O Tahu award through Mātauraka Mahaanui

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Ka Poupou Reo O Tahu award through Mātauraka Mahaanui

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10 week total immersion scholarship for Ōtautahi based educators.

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Ko te toa i a tini, i a mano o te tangata
- Tūwhakauika & Te Oreorehua (Ngāti Kurī) Ki te nui pata āwhā, mākū katoa te whenua
- Marukaitātea (Ngāti Kurī)
Karaka ki kā kura o Te Waipounamu
Ka hāpai i kā pakiwaitara, kā pūrākau o Te Waka
Hikitia te mārautaka, te mātauraka Māori e
Kā Poupou o Rakihouia; Kā Poupou Reo o Tahu e

(he waiata tēnei nā Maani Stirling rāua ko Keri Campbell nō te Kāhui Tuawhitu)
Due to the nature of this course, while we remain at a level of uncertainty with the pandemic, the kaupapa is best served by going on hiatus for now. Our organisation is undergoing a restructure, which means that the names may change, but the kaupapa will continue. Expressions of interest need to be sent direct to your papatipu rūnanga.

Each of us has a part to play in uplifting the use and understanding of te reo Māori across our education system, building the tomorrow we aspire to for our children after us.

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Kā Poupou Reo o Tahu - Matauraka Mahaanui

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Ko te toa i a tini, i a mano o te tangata- Tūwhakauika & Te Oreorehua (Ngāti Kurī) Ki te nui pata āwhā, mākū katoa te whenua- Marukaitātea (Ngāti Kurī) Karaka ki kā kura o Te WaipounamuKa hāpai i kā pakiwaitara, kā pūrākau o Te WakaHikitia te mārautaka, te mātauraka

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Te Hapū o Ngāti Wheke Strategic Plan Advisory Group

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Te Hapū o Ngāti Wheke Strategic Plan Advisory Group

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National Māori Theatre 2018 Steering Committee

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National Māori Theatre 2018 Steering Committee

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Artistic Director Juanita Hepi join us to talk about a new show Tūmahana which tells the South Island's unique creation story combining Toi Māori, circus, theatre, Taonga Pūoro, and the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra.

See terms of use.

Recent stories from Nights

Podcast (MP3) Oggcast (Vorbis)

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Exploring the Creation Story from a South Island Perspective

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Artistic Director Juanita Hepi join us to talk about a new show Tūmahana which tells the South Island's unique creation story combining Toi Māori, circus, theatre, Taonga Pūoro, and the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra. See terms of use. Podcast (MP3) Oggcast (Vorbis)

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Tokowhā ngā mokopuna a ngā Atua Māori ka tukuna ki te 'Wānanga o ngā Atua.' Ki reira rarawhi ai ki ngā tikanga tuku iho hei manaaki i te 'mauri' tapu nā ō rātou kaumatua tonu i tuku iho ki a rātou.

Ko ngā mokopuna ēnei nā Tāwhirimātea, nā Tūmatauenga, nā Tāne Mahuta, nā Rongomaraeroa hoki. Ka tae ki te wānanga, ā, rukutia rawatia te hohonutanga o ngā 'mauri' tapu me te aro ki ō rātou anō take hei painga mō te ao whānui.

Hei kōnei ka kite i tā te mana o te kotahi hei awhina i te oranga o te tokomaha. Ahakoa he iti te matakāhi, ka pakaru rikiriki te totara. Mā te whakaharatau e tika ai! Engari me tūpato ēnei 'mokopuna' kei raru te hirikapo, ā, nā wai ka raru ngā rangatahi nei kātahi ka hē kē atu.

Mā te 'mauri' tonu a te tangata e manaaki i te tangata tonu.

Four mokopuna descended from four Atua Māori are sent to the sacred school of learning - 'Te Wānanga o ngā Atua.'
There they are to learn how to harness their 'mauri' - inner power and one day carry out the important roles of their grandparents as guardians of 'Te Ao' and 'Te Pō.'

However, like all great powers there is also great responsibilities that they must learn along the way to ensure that everything is in unison and as it should be. This is the 'Mana Atua' qualities that they possess as individuals which when combined is more powerful than anything. However, each mokopuna has their own ideas and upbringings on how the world should be but that must all be put aside for the greater good of our realm. If not. Then the world as we know and see it will diminish before our very eyes.

*Suitable for all ages, ethnicities and languages. A fully immersed theatre production which fuses kapa haka, tikanga Māori, te reo Māori and influenced by a Māori World view all neatly packaged into a Māori theatre production.

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Kia Mau Festival 2021 | Te Rongomaiwhiti

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Tokowhā ngā mokopuna a ngā Atua Māori ka tukuna ki te 'Wānanga o ngā Atua.' Ki reira rarawhi ai ki ngā tikanga tuku iho hei manaaki i te 'mauri' tapu nā ō rātou kaumatua tonu i tuku iho ki a rātou.

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DIRECTOR / SCRIPT ADAPTION: Tūmahana 2021

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DIRECTOR / SCRIPT ADAPTION: Tūmahana 2021

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Māori Television Story

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Ngāi Tahu descendants have teamed up with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra to present a show about the iwi's creation story.

Tūmahana is a show about the creation story as told by Ngāi Tahu ancestor Matiaha Tiramorehu, who presented the iwi's first Treaty claim over its grievances with the Crown.

The story reveals the romance between Papatūānuku and Tangaroa, and the journey of Tāne who desperately searches to find clothes to adorn the naked body of his father, Ranginui, following his father's separation from his mother Papatūānuku.

Ranginui is known to Māori as the sky father and Papatūānuku the earth mother.

The show's artistic director, Juanita Hepi, says the idea to put the production together was inspired by wanting her children to know the creation story from the perspective of their Ngāi Tahu ancestors.

Growing up in the 1980s and 1990s, Hepi says at that time most of the Te Waipounamu teachers who taught the Māori creation story came from the North Island. So to share the story from their South Island iwi perspective was important for the new generation.

The show incorporates kapa haka, taonga pūoro, theatre, music by the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, acrobatics and circus performances.

Tūmahana opens at the Christchurch Town Hall tomorrow. For more details, click here.

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Ngāi Tahu and Christchurch Symphony Orchestra join forces for Tūmahana

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Ngāi Tahu descendants have teamed up with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra to present a show about the iwi's creation story. Tūmahana is a show about the creation story as told by Ngāi Tahu ancestor Matiaha Tiramorehu, who presented the iwi's first Treaty claim over its grievances with the Crown.

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Juanita Hepi

A multidisciplinary storyteller, producer, director, researcher and writer, Juanita has performed on a multitude of NZ stages and even Shakespeare's Globe in London. Juanita's passion for indigenous storytelling has led her to communities across Canada, America, and Hawaii where movement and sound are embedded within knowledge and culture.

Juanita holds a Master of Māori and Indigenous Leadership with distinction, a Graduate Diploma of Teaching and Learning and a Bachelor of Arts from Toi Whakaari, NZ Drama School. She is also a staunch advocate and enabler of arts and artists in Ōtautahi, Christchurch.

Tūmahana is a creative partnership between Juanita Hepi, Danny Syme, Māhina-Ina Kingi-Kaua, Hamish Oliver, the CSO and Ngāi Tahu, weaving together elements of dance, aerial and visual arts, Toi Māori, Taonga Pūoro, and orchestral music.

This website uses cookies. We know cookies aren't the answer but they're just so gosh-darn tasty. If you continue to use this site, you agree with them. Privacy Policy

COOL

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A multidisciplinary storyteller, producer, director, researcher and writer, Juanita has performed on a multitude of NZ stages and even Shakespeare's Globe in London. Juanita's passion for indigenous storytelling has led her to communities across Canada, America, and Hawaii where movement and sound are embedded within knowledge and culture.

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National Māori Theatre Hui Nov 2020 - Hauora - Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu

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We have a great programme, based around Hauora and Whare Tapere, featuring key artists Louise Potiki Bryant, Charles Royal, James Webster and Hinemoa Jones with additional wanaka from Juanita Hepi, Mere Boynton, Metiria Turei, Amber Bridgman and others. We will let you know the specifics as soon as we can.

We are striving to be able to provide you with a healthy and positive space to reflect, connect and project and look forward to gathering with you, let us know if you're coming.

"Na te waewae i kimi: by the feet it was sought"

Wishing you all arohanui from the snowy hearts of Ōtepoti, Mauri ora!

Many thanks to our sponsors: Dunedin City Council, Otago Community Trust, Te Puni Kokiri and Ngai Tahu Fund.

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National Māori Theatre Hui 2020 - Hauora - Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu

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We have a great programme, based around Hauora and Whare Tapere, featuring key artists Louise Potiki Bryant, Charles Royal, James Webster and Hinemoa Jones with additional wanaka from Juanita Hepi, Mere Boynton, Metiria Turei, Amber Bridgman and others. We will let you know the specifics as soon as we can.

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Producer. Writer. Director 13 August 2020

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DIRECTOR / SCRIPT ADAPTION: Tūmahana 2021

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DIRECTOR / SCRIPT ADAPTION: Tūmahana 2021

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Producer. Writer. Director.
With the CSO & Cirko Kali

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We celebrate this place where we stand, where we share music, and where our stories continue to unfold.

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Beckenham Primary & Bromley Primary Relief Teacher 2012-14

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Beckenham Primary & Bromley Primary Relief Teacher 2012-14

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Relief Teacher Yrs 0-8

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12 week marae based te reo Māori Programme for whānau, hapū and iwi.

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Symphony in the city, Ōtautahi

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Symphony in the City - Peter and the Wolf

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Christchurch City Council in partnership with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, present a special series of three intimate performances in Victoria Square this summer.

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Kāi Tahu Leadership Programme

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Aranui Primary School Kaiako / Teacher 2014-16

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Aranui Primary School Kaiako / Teacher 2014-16

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Yrs 0-8

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December 2020

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WĀNANGA SPEAKER ANNOUNCEMENT #4

Juanita Hepi (Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāi Tukairangi, Ngāti Wai) is a multidisciplinary artist, producer, educator and researcher.

In 2020 Juanita has produced and performed Kāwai at Little Andromeda in the middle of NZ's second lockdown, she produced and directed Tūmahana - a collaboration with Cirko Kahli and the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, she produced 2 Māori Theatre Hui in Ōtautahi and directed Taki Rua's Te Reo Māori touring season... , Nga Manu Rōreka.

Juanita is a proud, active and grateful hapū member of her marae at Rāpaki and has just completed a Masters of Māori and Indigenous Leadership with a focus on Māori women in the theatre and performing arts industry. Juanita is māmā to three.

Join Juanita on Monday 7th December at Ngā Hua Toi's Digital Wānanga. Register at the link below.
https://bit.ly/3kSSxAo

Image description: This is a photo of Juanita. She has long brown wavy hair, and a smile on her face.

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WĀNANGA SPEAKER ANNOUNCEMENT #4 Juanita Hepi (Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāi Tukairangi, Ngāti Wai) is a multidisciplinary artist, producer, educator and researcher. In 2020 Juanita has produced and performed Kāwai at Little Andromeda in the middle of NZ's second lockdown, she produced and directed Tūmahana - a collaboration with Cirko Kahli and the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, she produced 2 Māori Theatre Hui in Ōtautahi and directed Taki Rua's Te Reo Māori touring season...

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Te Reo Māori Touring Season 2021

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Haeata Community Campus Kaiako / Teacher 2016-18

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Haeata Community Campus Kaiako / Teacher 2016-18

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Yrs 7-13

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University of Canterbury news. Sep 2020

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word fest 2020 features uc scholars and cup authors

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Word Fest 2020 features UC scholars and CUP authors

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The WORD Christchurch Spring Festival is about to burst forth with stories, ideas, poetry and song. The recently announced festival line-up features ...

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WORD Christchurch, Spring Festival  2020

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WORD Christchurch, Spring Festival  2020

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From script to stage & screen

Letters to Ōtautahi

The Unicorn Cabaret

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Christchurch has arguably undergone more change and upheaval than any other city in New Zealand this century. Just as rocky is the relationship between the city and its people. We ask five writers with connections to the city: How do you feel about Christchurch? Is your relationship to a place different when you are born here than when you choose it as your home? And can we speak honestly about the dark side as well as the light? What would you say if you could address the city directly?
COVID-19 update. Ticket allocation is for the current Alert Level. If there is a change back to Level 2 at the time of the festival, tickets purchased under the original Level 2 requirements will be given preference. Refunds will be processed by Eventfinda for tickets no longer valid under updated conditions.

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Christchurch has arguably undergone more change and upheaval than any other city in New Zealand this century. Just as rocky is the relationship between the city and its people. We ask five writers with connections to the city: How do you feel about Christchurch?

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Ngā Hau Pū Aroha - Project Miere Music Video. Nov 2019

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Schools review of the Development Season

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_It was my favourite show I have ever been to!_ says Tangaroa Bates_

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Rāpaki Education Committee 2020 (an example of Kaiako using  Rāpaki pūrākau in their learning spaces)

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(Kaiako Cathy Wall talking to the camera)

CATHY: My name is Cathy Wall. I work at Kidsfirst Kindergarten.

(Exterior and interior of kindergarten)

(Ships in Lyttelton Port)

We are in Lyttelton which is in Te Waipounamu, the South Island, and we're in a busy, port town.

Tamatea Pōkai Whenua is a Māori adventurer from the 1300s who travelled around Aotearoa.

(Tamariki sitting inside their kindergarten)

We were first introduced to this story by a colleague who created a book about his adventures in Whakaraupō/Lyttelton Harbour. So there are several different versions out there about Tamatea's adventure.

(Tamariki acting out the story of Tamatea)

We were able to consult with our local iwi and really make sure that we were doing the version of the pakiwaitara that they were happy with.

Initially we started with the picture book. Once they had started to retell the story themselves with the picture book we moved on to making a model of Te Poho o Tamatea, which is the maunga/the mountain in the story. They then used this model along with props to retell the story. Then we noticed that they were taking elements and concepts from this pakiwaitara and using it in their own play. We wanted them to really think about what it would have felt like to be Tamatea and his whānau out on Whakaraupō.

(Tamariki in their cardboard waka reenacting the story)

So we supported them to reenact the story and to make a backdrop and resources that they needed. So they are now retelling the story through drama.

(Tamariki moving black silhouettes on a light box and using figures on a felt board)

Some of the resources we've created have included silhouettes that we've used on overhead projectors and on lightboxes. Our children are now at the point where they know this pakiwaitara so well that they can even make and illustrate their own books.

(Three tamariki sitting on a couch, with a child showing her book to the other two tamariki)

We have one child who has retold me the whole story and then done all the illustrations and she now shares that book with her peers and her whānau. She's very proud of herself.

(Kaiako Cathy Wall talking to the camera)

So her being able to tell this story and create the book tells me that she has a very in-depth understanding about this pakiwaitara and how it affects people around them in her own whānau. She's added elements on that really are important to her.

(Tamariki watching the reenactment)

Most of the tamariki were involved in the reenactment but some were still observing so we wanted to ensure that these children had another means of retelling a story and deepening their understanding.

(A child using a storytelling app and moving around the figures in the story)

We introduced a storytelling app that they were able to use quietly by themselves to really express what they understood. Then we were able to share this digital platform with peers and whānau.

(Children using clay and drawing with crayons)

The children also use paintings, drawing utensils, and clay to represent their understandings.

(Artwork hung throughout the kindergarten)

We've made books and we celebrate all their artwork throughout the kindergarten. So this really in-depth look at this one pakiwaitara has given the children the opportunity to really explore their understanding.

(Tamariki acting out the story during the reenactment and outside play)

They think a lot and talk a lot about what it would have been like to live in Aotearoa hundreds of years ago. What the clothing would have been like, what food would have been like, what the means of transport were, even what the family structure was like. We've really been able to explore the story and unpack it with them.

(Whakaraupō/Lyttelton Harbour with the traffic going past)

We've now discovered that the children are going home and telling their whānau members about Tamatea - where he's been and what his adventures have included and also where our landmarks in our local community have come from. As kaiako we have really come to understand how important it is for children to value their place in the community and have a feeling of belonging. Through this pakiwaitara they've been able to have an understanding of this and make links with the local landforms, the local iwi, just the whole local community. That's really strengthened their sense of identity.

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(Kaiako Cathy Wall talking to the camera) CATHY: My name is Cathy Wall. I work at Kidsfirst Kindergarten. (Exterior and interior of kindergarten) (Ships in Lyttelton Port) We are in Lyttelton which is in Te Waipounamu, the South Island, and we're in a busy, port town.

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Producer. Māori theatre makers and performance artists Hui.

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Producer. Māori Women's theatre and performance artists Hui.

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Episode 1

Episode 3

Episode 5