November 14, 2023
Kaupapa Māori contemporary art school celebrated
There’s a new book out celebrating the first indigenous four-year fine arts degree – the Toioho ki Āpiti programme at Massey University’s Palmerston North Campus.
Co-editor Kura Te Waru-Rewiri says Ki Mua, Ki Muri was a chance to discuss the school’s impacts on national and international contemporary art and culture, and highlight the work of artists and teachers like Bob Jahnke, Shane Cotton, Brett Graham, Rachael Rakena and Israel Birch to bring on the next generation.
“The book is really important because it’s the first publication to come out of our course of study, our kaupapa.. so I’m hoping this will be – not the only one. Our alumni who are doing really well out in the world there, you know, we need to speak about the sweetness of the kumara,” she says.
Kura Te Waru-Rewiri says the project was shepherded through by Toioho ki Āpiti’s first-ever graduate and now associate professor Huhana Smith, writer Cassandra Barnett and Massey University Press publisher Nicola Legat.