Capture Matariki - Show the Nation How You Celebrate the Maori New Year

Te Papa is calling on all New Zealanders to grab a camera and snap some photos that show how they live, work, or play during the M
ori New Year. The images will become part of a huge online photographic collection capturing activities and communities during Matariki.

Schools and community groups from around the country have already started uploading photos for Capture Matariki. See them online at www.ourspace.tepapa.com
Exhibition Manager Adán Tijerina says one of the major goals of Our Space is to facilitate conversations about New Zealand identity by encouraging the public to share photos and video that tell stories about who and where they are as citizens of this country.

“Capture Matariki takes a sizable step towards achieving this goal by inviting images from everyone during a special time of the year. Anybody can participate and it’s a great way to share your experience of Matariki with the rest of the nation.”

The star cluster Matariki (Pleiades) reappears in our dawn skies in early June, staying for almost 12 months. The M
ori New Year begins with the first moon after Matariki’s reappearance and, from 25 June, Te Papa is holding an 18-day Matariki Festival. The theme of this year’s celebrations at Te Papa is whakawhanaungatanga (bringing people together).

In early July, a panel of selectors will choose 48 of the most compelling Capture Matariki images to be displayed on a massive 101 inch screen outside Te Papa. These photos will launch the Our Space TelstraClear screen on Wellington’s waterfront.

Images must be submitted by Sunday 28 June 2009. Capture Matariki is proudly supported by TelstraClear and New Zealand Post.