New Toi Māori Degree a First for Te Taitokerau

Media Release 16 December 2014

Tihei Mauriora!

New Toi Māori Degree a First for Te Taitokerau

NorthTec is launching the Maunga Kura Toi – Bachelor of Māori Arts, which offers undergraduate study in three Toi strands: Raranga (weaving), Rauangi (Māori Visual Arts) and Whakairo (Carving).

This qualification is kaupapa Māori-based and will have a hapū-iwi focus that reflects the people of Te Taitokerau.

The programme begins in March 2015. Whakairo and Rauangi will be delivered at the Whangarei campus and Raranga will be delivered at the Kaikohe learning centre.

This is the first and only degree in Toi Māori to be offered in Northland, and will bring to seven the number of degree programmes delivered directly by NorthTec.

The three-year programme will be taught by leading Māori artists and Māori art educators with Ngāpuhi connections teaching both kaupapa wananga and kaupapa rangahau (core requirements) and practical skills, techniques and materials of the kōnae ako electives.

The Maunga Kura Toi – Bachelor of Māori Arts aims to develop students who are passionate about Toi Māori (Māori arts) and its place within Te Ao Māori (the Māori world). It has a focus on customary knowledge and practice for a chosen kaupapa Toi, which are intertwined throughout the creative process of this qualification.

Students will learn how to analyse, select and apply chosen Toi techniques, processes and practices according to a kaupapa Māori context, working both individually and in collaboration with others.

The Maunga Kura Toi – Bachelor of Māori Arts, will be delivered using a combination of face-to-face classes and monthly noho marae at the NorthTec marae, Te Puna Ō Te Mātauranga, in Raumanga or other local marae as the need arises.

Skills and knowledge gained in the programme will enable students to go on to study for a Masters in their chosen subject, or follow a number of routes into employment. These include teacher training, curatorial positions in museums and art galleries, production of artistic work for stage, theatre, television and advertising, or operating an art studio or exhibition space. There is also potential to work in the tourism industry.

Tutor Kura Te Waru-Rewiri said: “I am excited about the potential of this qualification (a koha from Te Wānanga Ō Aotearoa) to promote well-being and contribute to whānau, marae, hapū and iwi developments in Te Taitokerau.”

For information about the Maunga Kura Toi programme, or all other NorthTec study options, visit www.northtec.ac.nz or call 0800 162 100.

‘Kua tawhiti ko te haerenga mai, kia kore e haere tonu.

He tino nui rawa ou mahi, e kore e mahi nui tonu’

‘We have come too far, not to go further

We have done too much, not to do more’

Na Ta Himi Tau Henare

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