This tailored project, hosted by Te Tuhi's school programme, saw Tāmaki Makaurau-based artist Heidi Brickell (descendant of Te Hika o Papauma: Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Rongomaiwahine, Ngāi Rangitāne and Ngāti Apakura) work with a local kura to create a collaborative art installation during Matariki.
Throughout the sessions, students could learn techniques in painting and collage-making, as well as strategies to use visual language symbolically, drawing on imagery from their own family backgrounds as well as their contemporary connections. Students were encouraged to connect with their own whakapapa as a way of celebrating Matariki and to make their own whakapapa collage.
Brickell shared ways in which she maps her own whakapapa, or genealogy, and guided tamariki in using these methodologies to explore their own with whenua, te ira tangata and pūrākau – land, divine humanness and personal meaningful stories. The wānanga incorporated te reo Māori, supporting revitalisation strategies to platform initiatives that encourage the everyday use of te reo Māori.
To enquire about a similar tailored project for your school, contact us at schools@tetuhi.art.