Auckland Museum to Host CNZ's Fono

AUCKLAND MUSEUM TO HOST CREATIVE NEW ZEALAND’S INAUGURAL NATIONAL PACIFIC HERITAGE ARTS FONO

Auckland War Memorial Museum is proud to host the first ever national Pacific Heritage Arts Fono. Running from Thursday 22 October through to Saturday 24 October, the free three day event will provide a forum for Pacific heritage arts practitioners to gather, share and exchange their respective knowledge and experiences with each other and museum professionals. The gathering is a Creative New Zealand funded initiative which aims to strengthen the practice of Pacific heritage arts in Aotearoa New Zealand. The Fono is also supported by Te Papa’s National Services Te Paerangi.

“Bringing heritage artists from all over the country together to work with museum professionals, plus giving the public the opportunity to attend, is a brilliant example of the kind of cooperation that will deepen knowledge and practice in our precious cultural heritage,” says Marilyn Kohlhase, the Chair of Auckland Museum’s Pacific Advisory Group.

The inaugural Fono will include presentations and workshops by master artists working in a wide range of mediums, from carving, weaving, tivaivai/tīvaevae, crochet, drumming, ukulele and nose flute, along with oratory and cultural protocols involving material wealth such as tapa cloth and fine mats. The programme will also include workshops run by conservators from Auckland Museum and the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. These workshops will focus on the making, materials and conservation aspects of some of these art forms. Alongside this, Auckland Museum will provide tours of its Pacific collections and Te Papa will talk about new acquisitions to their Pacific collections. The last day of the Fono will focus on getting feedback from the artists on what they would like to see at gatherings in future years.

Creative New Zealand will also be running funding workshops and holding talks about the other heritage arts programmes they support, such as their international Cultural Exchange Programme which recently brought master artists from the Cook Islands to New Zealand.

“Heritage arts are a fundamental way for Pasifika people to express the values, perspectives and attitudes that make our communities unique. They also underpin and influence our contemporary art and it is important that we value, support and develop the preservation of heritage arts,” says Creative New Zealand Arts Council Pacific representative Caren Rangi.

A variety of the presentations and workshops will be open to the public. The public presentations will take place on Thursday 22 October at 10.30am and Friday 23 October and Saturday 24 October at 9.30am, with the open workshops running daily from 1.30pm to 4.30pm.

For programme and registration information, please visit: aucklandmuseum.com

ENDS

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