Te Waka Toi grants support South Island Maori arts

Te Waka Toi grants support South Island Maori arts

Young Christchurch Maori will contribute ideas to a new interactive drama, which aims to help prevent suicide and is supported by a $30,000 grant from Te Waka Toi, the Maori arts board of Creative New Zealand, in its latest funding round.

Developed by Te Whanau Puawai Ora of Christchurch, My Taniwha will promote cultural identity, peer support, self-esteem, help-seeking behaviour and participation in the arts. It will be presented to kura, whare wananga, youth centres, youth correction units and marae throughout New Zealand in 2003.

This was one of 50 projects offered grants totalling $701,018 across Te Waka Toi’s five funding programmes: New Work, Experiencing Maori Arts, Heritage Arts, Te Reo and Indigenous Links. Te Waka Toi received a total of 95 applications seeking more than $2.2 million.

A grant of $5500 was offered to another Christchurch group, Te Roopu Haka o Te Kotahitanga, to record a CD of original contemporary songs in te reo Maori for children. The songs will be performed by the junior members of the club and have been composed by Tihi, Wiremu and Te Huaki Puanaki.

The National Maori Choir - Te Roopu Waiata Maori – was offered a grant of $10,000 to participate in the Toi Maori Aotearoa Arts Festival in Christchurch in January 2003. The Festival promises “a night of classical Maori music and opera” involving the National Maori Choir, four Maori opera singers, Whirimako Black, taonga puoro and a presentation of awards to Maori musicians living in the South Island who have contributed to Maori music. The National Maori Choir has 80 members, chosen from regional choirs throughout the country.

An experimental multi-media installation called rerehiko, involving moving images of water, swimmers/dancers, tukutuku and floating texts, will be created by Rachel Rakena of Dunedin, with the support of a $10,000 grant. The installation is expected to be part of the Ngai Tahu exhibition for the opening of Te Puna o Waiwhetu, the new Christchurch City Art Gallery, next April.

“I would like to take the viewer on a journey into a cyberspace whare whakairo,” Rakena said.

Prominent musicians for the project include Richard Nunns, Daniel Poynton and Deborah Wai Kapohe. Rakena also plans to use similar subject matter to produce a short film for entry into local and international competitions.

About 1000 performers in 27 groups were expected to come together at Nga Hau e Wha national marae in Christchurch for a South Island kapa haka festival at Labour Weekend. The festival supports the work of primary and secondary schools, and other groups in the northern, southern and central regions towards the Aotearoa National Festival. The festival organisers, Te Waipounamu Maori Cultural Council, were offered a grant of $8000.

Hakatere Maori Committee of Ashburton was offered a $30,000 grant to support the carving of whakairo for a new wharenui, as part of a broader marae redevelopment project. The wharenui, wharekai and wharepaku are all being replaced at Hakatere Marae with the help of grants from other organisations. Master carver Vince Leonard will lead the carving team of Hakatere whanau and stage one of the project is expected to be completed by December 2003.

A trust called Kanohi Kitea plans a three-day wananga called Haumi E! 2002 on Ta moko and taonga puoro, to be held in Christchurch in December. This project was supported with a grant of $18,000 from Te Waka Toi. With the support of a $10,000 grant from Te Waka Toi, a group of ten weavers and whanau from Opotiki will travel to the West Coast of the South Island in November to exchange knowledge about their artform, and gather and prepare kiekie and flax to use in decorating their planned new wharenui at Hawai Marae.

The resources are needed to make tukutuku and whariki (floormats) for a replacement ancestral wharenui. Most of the Opotiki group have whakapapa links with Ngai Tahu, and the kiekie on the West Coast is nearly three times the length of local kiekie, as well as being more accessible.

Grants supporting South Island writers include:

$14,000 to Rangi Nui Faith of Rangiora, North Canterbury to write a book of poetry. His collection Rivers Without Eels was published by Huia Publishers in 2001.

$4245 to Anituatua Black of Dunedin towards writing a collection of short stories as told by her mother, also called Anituatua, in Tuhoe dialect, about an old fairy woman who is part of the spirit world.

The closing date for the next project funding round is 23 February 2003. Anyone wishing to apply for a grant to Te Waka Toi should contact Haniko Te Kurapa, Maori Arts Adviser, Creative New Zealand (Tel: 04-473 0182 Email: mailto: mailto:hanikot@creativenz.govt.nz).

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