Tairāwhiti Arts Festival: Introducing more artists set to shine at Gisborne festival

Arist Georgia Latu draws on her lived experiences as a kaihaka (performer) and business founder, weaving together contemporary form with cultural depth.

The Tairāwhiti Arts Festival runs from September 26 to October 5 and once again features Te Ara i Whiti (light trail) – a free interactive visual arts experience comprising illuminated installations and sculptural works created by a group of 11 Aotearoa artists. The kaupapa for Te Ara i Whiti is “o mātou tūmanako – our dreams”. It has been curated by Melanie Tangaere in collaboration with lighting designer Angus Muir and will be installed at Kelvin Park and Marina Park. In the lead-up to the festival, the Gisborne Herald is profiling the exhibiting artists.

Georgia Latu

Georgia Latu (Kāi Tahu, Ngāpuhi, Samoa, Tokelau) is a multimedia ringatoi raised in kōhanga reo and kura kaupapa Māori in Ōtepoti/Dunedin.

She is also the founder of Pōtiki Poi, the world’s largest poi manufacturing company – a kaupapa she began at just 12 years old to revitalise poi and create opportunities and pathways for her people.

Now based in Te Tairāwhiti, Latu is in her second year of study at Toihoukura [School of Māori Visual Art and Design], where she continues to grow as an artist, passionate about Māori visual storytelling, whakapapa (genealogy), kaupapa Māori and te ao haka.

Her mahi (work) draws on her lived experiences as a kaihaka (performer) and business founder, weaving together contemporary form with cultural depth.

Through sculpture, sound and community activation, she is committed to uplifting Māori voices and honouring the creativity of her tīpuna (ancestors) through every piece of art she makes.

Her Te Ara i Whiti work is titled Poi i te Ao, Poi i te Pō.

Poi i te Ao, Poi i te Pō celebrates the excellence and legacy of kapa haka in Te Tairāwhiti through poi.

It is a sculpture that honours the Tairāwhiti kapa haka rōpū (Māori performance group) who stood at Te Matatini – Te Hokowhitu a Tū, Whāngārā Mai Tawhiti, Hikurangi, Waihīrere and Tū Te Manawa Maurea.

The poi are accompanied by a soundscape and design elements that reflect the colours and wairua of each rōpū (group).

As a kaihaka who travelled to Te Matatini with Whāngārā Mai Tawhiti, Latu draws from personal experience to create a space of mana, memory and movement.

Poi i Te Ao, Poi i Te Pō embodies ō mātou tūmanako (our hopes) and invites all who visit to walk among and celebrate the strength of haka and community.

Kaa Te Mihi Puketapu's art explores themes of connection, resilience and transformation.

Kaa Te Mihi Puketapu

Kaa Te Mihi Puketapu is a graduate of Toihoukura, a weaver and multimedia artist whose practice is deeply rooted in whakapapa, tamariki (children) and rongoā (traditional Māori medicine.

Her mahi is guided by mātauranga Māori and the interconnected relationships between healing, identity and te taiao.

Inspired by indigenous rights, healing and whanau, her art explores themes of connection, resilience and transformation.

Traditional forms are blended with contemporary expression, allowing Puketapu to create works that honour her tipuna while speaking to the present and looking toward the future.

Her Te Ara i Whiti work is titled Te Puna Waiora.

Te Puna Waiora has been created to provide sanctuary for tamariki.

It is a space where their wishes and dreams are heard, carried into the light and received by their tīpuna.

In return, the glow of the work embodies the aroha, guidance and the hopes and dreams of their tīpuna back towards the tamariki.

By re-indigenising children’s spaces, Te Puna Waiora restores belonging and connection, allowing everyone in the community to form core memories of being seen, valued and heard.

It is both healing and reciprocal like a bridge of light between voices of tamariki and the blessings of their tipuna.

Tairāwhiti Arts Festival artist Kamoe Aniva Paki's aspiration is to become a kaiako (teacher) – to guide and uplift tamariki (children).

Kamoe Aniva Paki

Tumata Kōkiri ki te Rangi, Rereahu ki te Whenua, Maniapoto ki te Manawa – tihei mauri ora.

Kamoe Aniva Paki descends from Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngāpuhi on her mother’s side and from the proud village of Nofoali‘i, Sāmoa on her father’s side.

After 17 years in Ōtautahi/Christchurch, Paki returned to Tūranga to reconnect with her mahi toi (art), to grow as an artist and to deepen her understanding of self.

She is a raukura of Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Whakapūmau and is in her final year of Te Toi o Ngā Rangi Bachelor of Māori Visual Arts at Toihoukura.

Her aspiration is to become a kaiako (teacher), to guide and uplift tamariki and to share the knowledge, values and creativity that have shaped her.

“Toi is my language, my breath and my being. Ko au ko toi, ko toi ko ahau.”

Her Te Ara i Whiti work is titled Ko Porou Koa, Ko Hamo Te Wahine Koa, Ko Tahu Koa, Ko Hamo Te Wahine Koa.

The kaupapa of Paki’s piece is centered on Hamoterangi and her connections to Porourangi and Tahu Pōtiki.

It explores the powerful whakapapa lines embodied by these three tīpuna – whakapapa that anchor the identities of two major iwi in Aotearoa, Ngāti Porou and Ngāi Tahu.

Through kowhaiwhai (painting) and sculpture, she aims to portray the interwoven nature of their legacies, the way their stories ripple through generations and land.

At the heart of it all is Hamoterangi, a woman of immense mana and significance, not just as a connector of whakapapa, but as a leader in her own right.

For Paki, she represents the essence of mana wāhine – a symbol of strength, resilience and deep aroha.

Paki’s work is a tribute to her, the whenua (land) of Tūranganui-a-Kiwa and the whakapapa that shaped her world.