Tomorrow marks a new start for the arts in Ngapuhi, but the past won’t be left behind.
A new cultural and creative advocacy organisation. Toi Ngāpuhi, will be launched at Kohewhata Marae near Kaikohe.
Chair Bernard Makoare, who trained as a traditional wood carver, says it aims to support the iwi’s Piki Tū Rangitia 25 year arts and cultural strategy.
He says they will remember the names of artists and craftspeople who came before them.
"People who are no longer with us; we ask them to be with us every time we take up a chisel, or we take up a piece of clay, or we take up a paintbrush or even look through a lens. That's how we do things as Māori," he says.
Bernard Makoare says Toi Ngāpuhi sees the arts as not only about cultural identity but also as a way to improve hapū well being.
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