University of Auckland celebrates Matariki

Academic staff from The University of Auckland’s National Institute of Creative Arts and Industries (NICAI) will give public lectures to celebrate Matariki— the Māori New Year.

The rising of Matariki (the Pleiades) heralds the beginning of a new horticultural cycle and has been celebrated by Māori as a time of renewal. It was a time for the community to come together to farewell those departed and acknowledge the year gone by. Matariki was also a time to turn to the future, welcoming the new generation to the world and planning for the year ahead. For some Māori the first new moon after the rise of Matariki signals the start of the New Year celebrations.

As part of Auckland City’s Matariki celebrations (4 June – 4 July), Professor Jonathan Mane-Wheoki, Head of Elam School of Fine Arts, and Dr Deidre Brown, Senior Lecturer at the School of Architecture and Planning, will each discuss aspects of their research as they relate to Matariki.

In delivering “I Te Timatanga: The Foundations of Contemporary Maori Art” Professor Mane-Wheoki (Ngāpuhi, Te Aupouri, Ngāti Kuri) will consider the roles played by pioneering Maori artists who first engaged with international modernism. He will position them as foundational figures in today's dynamic contemporary art movement, as forerunners to the current constellation of Māori art stars. Some of these early artists are now acknowledged to be among our most revered and iconic figures while younger artists have emerged to attain celebrity status on the national and international art scene.

For example, three of the seven artists selected to represent New Zealand at the prestigious Venice Biennale since 2001 have been Māori, while one Elam Māori graduate received a personal invitation to participate in the Biennale in 2007. Elam's Michael Parekowhai is currently New Zealand's representative artist in Venice.

Professor Mane-Wheoki is an art historian, architectural historian, cultural historian and curator. He is especially noted as a pioneer in the development of contemporary Māori and Pacific art and art history.

Dr Brown, renowned for her scholarship on Māori art and architecture, observes that the promotion of Matariki as the “Māori New Year” provides New Zealanders with an entrance to Māori culture through participation in a wide range of observances and activities. Dr Brown’s lecture, “Matariki Rising: Designing for new stars and big ideas”, will examine the practice of sharing culture from a design perspective.

She posits that we live in a world where the sharing images and ideas are commonplace and increasingly identified with democratic principles. But for Māori, like many other indigenous people, some aspects of culture and cultural practice are not so easily shared. Dr Brown will query how these restrictions impact on the way Māori words and images are used in commercial and celebratory contexts and how designers are reconciling the expectations of two cultures.

The two public lectures will be held on Sunday 5 June from 1pm – 3.30pm at The University of Auckland Engineering Glass Box, Eng 1439 (20 Symonds Street). The lectures are free, but registration is essential. For bookings visit www.creative.auckland.ac.nz/matariki or phone 09 923 6902.

The University of Auckland’s National Institute of Creative Arts and Industries comprises the School of Architecture and Planning, Elam School of Fine Arts, the Centre for New Zealand Art Research and Discovery (CNZARD), the School of Music and the Dance Studies Programme.