June 05, 2024
Aotearoa delegation in Hawaii for arts festival
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About 150 Māori and Pasifika artists and performers are on their way to Hawaii to represent Aotearoa at the 13th Festival of Pacific Arts & Culture.
Tamahou Temara from Toi Māori says there’s about 85 in the official delegation funded by Creative New Zealand and a number of independents, including a group of weavers from Rotorua and a Kura takawaenga from Tai Tokerau, with Kiingi Tuheitia also there for the event.
Because a New Zealand Defence Force plane wasn’t available, groups have been going up in waves on commercial flights.
Mr Temara says a 10-person waka contingent led by master navigator Hoturoa Barclay-Kerr will play a major role in the opening of the 10-day festival, which has the theme of Ho’oulu Lāhui: Regenerating Oceania.
“So as soon as we land we’ve got one night to recover before jumping on some of those waka that are being delegated to different heads of state, so I will be participating in that with Nga Waka Federation which is part of Toi Maori,” he says.