Nei te rau tāwhiri o Koukourārata
I hope this warm weather is a sign that we’re in for a nice long ‘hot’ summer, especially given the dismal one we had last year. But Haki Hukapapa and his whānau are still making themselves known so best not be breaking out the summer clothes just yet.
Before moving on, Te Rūnanga o Koukourārata would also like to extend our heartfelt aroha to all of our whānauka, who have lost loved ones over the past few months. In particular our heartfelt aroha goes to the Teihoka, Wallace-Swindells, Tau and Briggs whānau.
Nō reira takina te kupu tuatahi ki te Aitaka-a-Matariki, koutou i whakakopa kopiopio i te karaka a Tahu Kūmea, a Tahu Whakairo ki te tauawhi a tāua mā, a pōua mā kua riro ki tua o paemahara. Ka pōhara katoa te iwi i ō koutou weheka. Pūkatokato tou ana tō iwi, anō te marama kua karo, kua ara anō, auē he marama ka roku i te pae. He maimai aroha ki a koutou, tēnei te puna wai a kamo, tēnei te puna aroha e kore e mimiti. Nā reira, mā te Ruka Rawa koutou e manaaki, e tiaki, rātou ki a rātou ka moe, tātou kā waihotaka a rātou ka noho, nāia te waimihi a Koukourārata e rere atu nei.
Nei te hau mihi o ngākau ki a koe e Areta
On 12 July, around fifty people including whānau, Massey University staff, three examiners (national and international), project participants and museum professionals gathered at Tūtehuarewa Marae in Koukourārata for Areta Wilkinson’s PhD examination exhibition “Whakapaipai – Jewellery as Pepeha”.
A practicing jeweller for over 20 years, Areta has exhibited her mahi toi in collections around New Zealand. This presentation was part of her journey towards completing a PhD in Fine Arts at Te Pūtahi-a-Toi School of Māori Art, Knowledge and Education at Massey University, Palmerston North.
A series of images of shadows thrown by taonga tūturu of Te Waipounamu held in museum collections, were shown, along with reproduced museum accession records. Areta’s response to these shadows has resulted in contemporary sterling silver pendants displayed around the necks of life-size ply silhouettes of whānau – men, women, aunties, mothers, children and babies. Central to the exhibition is a heitiki called Hineahua, made from (Te Tai Poutini) 24- carat gold. This work alludes to creation legacies and their relevance.
As mentioned by some of the speakers on the day, this exhibition showed that the future of Kāi Tahu visual culture is in good health and in good hands. Wilkinson has successfully located her contemporary practice in Kāi Tahu knowledge – histories, kōrero, whakapapa and in the whenua. Her exhibition will be shown at Canterbury Museum during November for all to enjoy.
Areta Wilkinson with one of her supervisors, Huia Thomlins-Jahnke.
Koukourārata whānau and friends.
Marae bookings
Now that word is out that the marae is back up and operating, bookings are taking off again. So to save disappointment please book early. To book the marae please contact the rūnanga office on 365 3281 or email [email protected]
Te Pānui Rūnaka stories
Many thanks to our roving reporter Peter Ramsden for his story contributions. If you have stories for Te Pānui Rūnaka please send items and stories to the rūnaka office (contact details can be found at the back of this edition). Without your stories we can’t submit a column so we look forward to hearing from you.