Pūkana — curator’s talk
Listen to Paul Diamond, one of the curator’s of Pūkana, talk about the exhibition.
Contents
Origin stories
Their performance was so irresistible that Kae smiled broadly, revealing his distinctive overlapping teeth – Valance Smith
Camera on the shore
Māori perspectives of performance — what is it like to be a performer.
Rhythm and movement
Haka a Tānerore: Me te mea tērā ko te haka a Tānerore, e wiriwiri nei i te raumati | It was as if it was the shimmering of heat haze in the summer – Te Puke ki Hikurangi
Performance and grief
He wāhine tangi haehae, he ngaru moana e kore e matoki | For grieving women and ocean waves, there is no rest – Leo Fowler Collection ATL Ref. 77-014-1/17
Ngā Puna Waihanga
Nga Puna Waihanga is a great thing to inspire the young generation to carry on. I would not like to see it lost — Dr Rangimarie Hetet
Making our voices heard
The marae ātea is the Māori stage and the drama of whatever was happening at the marae was played out there — Te Haumihiata Mason
The ‘Māori strum’
See the Māori strum . . . jingajik a jingajik. That’s what they call it, ‘Do you know the jingajik, bro?’ – Jamie McCaskill
Porgy and Bess
One thing is certain: neither opera, nor Maori entertainment is ever likely to be the same in New Zealand after Porgy and Bess — Auckland Star, 25 February 1965
Māori and Pasifika
We come chanting, we come singing, we come proudly from Rangiātea, there our seed was sown We come, still voyaging by star canoes by aurora australis — Witi Ihimaera, ‘Oh Numi Tutelar’
Ans Westra
These are real people. No one can accuse Ans Westra of favouritism, as her subjects are from the four points of the compass . . . Ans Westra has seen and then shown the Māori people as they are – N. P. K. Puriri
Performing careers
Once you embrace the audience, share your experience of what you do and they will come with you — and you can feel it. It’s manipulation in a way, but it’s the most wonderful feeling. — George Henare, as told to Katherine Findlay