Listen Now: 
September 17, 2013
Whakarewarewa centre celebrates 50 years
Waatea Team
Posted On September 17, 2013
Whakarewarewa Maori tourism hub Te Puia and the New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute will celebrate 50 years of merged activity next month.
Te Puia chief executive Tim Cossar said the collaboration of tourism and cultural development first outlined in 1963 is even stronger today, with two distinct brands, Te Puia for the tourism activities, and the Institute for cultural perpetuation and development.
He says the celebration events have been developed as an invitation to New Zealanders to revisit the iconic valley, to relive what may be childhood memories and to create new ones for the future.
As part of the celebration, institute senior carver Albert Te Pou is carving a replica of the 5 metre high waharoa which used to stand at the entrance of Whakarewarewa village.
The original, carved by Tene Waitere, was one of two that were exhibited at the New Zealand International Exhibition in Hagley Park, Christchurch, in 1908.
Copyright © 2013, UMA Broadcasting Ltd
RELATED NEWS
