Te Puke Library celebrating Matariki these school holidays

Artist and carver Dean Flavell (left), artist Lisa Stowell, children and teen librarian Deborah Hart and facilitator Kassie Ellis.

Te Puke Library is celebrating Matariki these school holidays with a competition, an exhibition and a kite-making session.

Te Puke artist Lisa Stowell has created a Matariki colouring-in competition, drawing a beautiful night sky scene for children to colour.

Lisa says the drawing is based on Pāpāmoa Hills from which the stars are clearly visible.
She says it was a challenge to come up with something suitable for the age range of the competition.

Entries for the colouring competition need to be submitted to the library by noon on July 18 for a chance to win a prize.

Local artist and carver Dean Flavell has put together an exhibition, "Te Rākaunui – Te Rākauroa", that explores traditional tools and philosophies of tangata whenua in the oral passing down of traditional tool making and purpose related to traditional forms of horticulture practised within the local area.

Traditions associated to local iwi and hapū are handed down from generation to generation and are remembered in the many place names throughout our region. Several of these are captured in stories (pūrākau) songs (waiata koroua) and histories (tāhuhu kōrero).

This display also helps to acknowledge the rise of Matariki, the star cluster that marks the Māori New Year, a celestial reminder of remembrance of those gone and celebration of future harvests.

Matariki is the traditional time where planning for planting by the Māori calendar or Maramataka is organised and based on the days of those months their favourable or unfavourable qualities are determined for gardening, fishing and other practical food gathering activities.

The exhibition is made up of tools from his personal collection

''One of the things as a carver I like to do is recreate old tools and teach the young ones how they were used,'' he says.

Christa Koller will lead a Matariki kite-making session, making sled kites. This is going to be a hands-on session and, if the weather is fine, there will be the opportunity to fly the kites.

Children and teens librarian Deborah Hart says she is excited about the Matariki theme of the holiday programme activities.

''It is important that we celebrate [Matariki] and that's what we are doing,'' says Deborah.

''We are very excited to be involved in this and having the community involved in the library programme.

''And I am excited about what we are going to be doing in the future around Matariki - I feel like this is the beginning of us doing more.''

The activities were facilitated by Kassie Ellis who, with Sam Hema and local iwi, had been planning a much bigger Matariki celebration for Te Puke that was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The exhibition will be in place until the end of the month and the kite-making sessions will be on July 15 (booking essential).

There will be a chance to make up Lego kits tomorrow and July 16 and a movie on Monday, all of which also need to be pre-booked.