Background
Te Tuhi has a commitment to developing and sustaining relationships and practices which give expression to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Te Tuhi is a contemporary art gallery in Pakuranga, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. It also runs community programmes and operates O Wairoa Marae, an urban marae in Howick. It is important that Te Tuhi has the cultural competency, expertise and advice required to deliver its different programmes across different sites.
Te Tuhi has worked with Pou Ārahi Carla Ruka to produce an ōkawa to cover the operation of our different programmes in the gallery, on the marae and offsite. It is important to Te Tuhi to recognise that arts institutions and marae have differently appropriate protocols.
In developing the Te Tuhi Ōkawa framework, Carla has drawn on the pūrākau of Mahuika, the Māori deity of fire.
Our aspiration is to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi in a way that is about developing and sustaining relationships and practices that are inclusive, forward-thinking and artform-specific, to make our spaces open, welcoming and safe for all communities.
Tikanga we operate with
→ Te Tuhi
Te Tuhi uses art-gallery-appropriate ōkawa
→ O Wairoa Marae
Situated in Ngāi Tai whenua, O Wairoa Marae operates under Tainui kawa. It is guided by Taini Drummond and a volunteer O Wairoa Marae committee.
→ Papatūnga
Artist development programme based at O Wairoa Marae. Papatūnga uses Te Tuhi Ōkawa and operates within O Wairoa Marae kawa when appropriate.
→ Other places
Programmes and events in various arts and community settings are guided by context and local/host tikanga.
Te Tuhi Ōkawa development
→ Te Tuhi name
The name ‘Te Tuhi’ refers to the early ancestor of Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, Manawatere, who arrived on his waka Huruhurumanu (birds’ feather), so called because his waka, it is said, glided over the ripples of the waves like a feather. Manawatere landed Huruhurumanu at present-day Cockle Bay and named the bay Tūwakamana (an abbreviation of Te Tūranga waka a Manawatere). He then proceeded to leave his tuhi, mark, on a pōhutukawa tree with karamea, ochre, from the area. The mark of Manawatere was intended to show that he had been there and as a signal that his people, following him, should settle in that area. This tohu is said to resemble a ‘double S, on its side’. Te Tuhi ā Manawatere, the large pōhutukawa tree at Cockle Bay on which Manawatere left his mark, is there to this day.
→ Te pūrākau ō Mahuika: a pūrākau to build a framework on
Te Tuhi acknowledges the many variations of the pūrākau of Mahuika, Māori deity of fire. This is the version that inspired the Te Tuhi framework.
Mahuika married Auahitūroa (a comet), the son of Tamanui te Rā (deity of the sun). Their children are the fingernails of fire on Mahuika’s hand. Mahuika gave her grandson Māui the gift of fire, by plucking flames from her fingertips. After Māui returned many times to attain new fire, Mahuika gave her last children to Hinekaikōmako (the fire concealer), wife of Ira-Whaki (the fire revealer), to live among the trees. The trees pukatea, patete, tōtara, māhoe and kaikōmako continue to give us fire.
→ Ngā tokorima ō Mahuika
The five children of Mahuika are Kōnui, Kōroa, Māpere, Mānawa, Tōiti.
→ Ahi-kā-roa o Te Tuhi
Ahi-kā-roa, the principle of keeping the fires burning to symbolise long-standing occupation, inspires Te Tuhi’s understanding of the role of people to create a community and a community to warm the land, and Te Tuhi’s role in connecting and sustaining diverse communities through creativity.
→ Te Tuhi and ngā tokorima ō Mahuika
Te Tuhi’s ōkawa framework considers five steps, inspired by the children of Mahuika, with guiding principles that reflect the values of each child. Te Tuhi practises these principles with the intention of keeping the home fires burning and formalising a culture of care for its diverse communities, creativity, spaces and events.
Te Tuhi Ōkawa principles
→ Intention driven
→ Inclusivity
→ Accessibility
→ Warm Hospitality
Te Tuhi Ōkawa tokorima
→ Kōnui
Step 1: Tīmatanga (the beginning)
Values: Foundation, Preparation, Communication
→ Kōroa
Step 2: Whakawhanaungatanga (establishing relationships)
Values: Individuality, Identity, Empathy, Integrity, Patience
→ Māpere
Step 3: Whakakaupapa (formulating a personalised structure)
Values: Planning, Direction, Implementing, Delivery
→ Mānawa
Step 4: Manaakitanga (hospitality)
Values: Whanaungatanga, Generosity, Nurturing
→ Tōiti
Step 5: Ahi-kā-roa (long-burning fires of occupation)
Values: Community, Acknowledgement, Harmony, Resonance
Te Tuhi Ōkawa practices
Te Tuhi practices are defined by the steps or ngā tokorima of our ōkawa. For each of the tokorima Te Tuhi has a range of practices that cover how we work in general, how we work within our team, how we work with artists and how we work with audiences and participants.
Our ōkawa also includes a guide for formal occasions such as exhibition openings and closings, and whakanuia. All formalities are designed to fit each context appropriately, recognising that Te Tuhi is wahine led and ensuring that all our formal roles are gender neutral.
Te Tuhi is happy to share more information on our ōkawa and practices, please reach out to info@tetuhi.art
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