Hihiaua Cultural Centre's book launch a real pager-turner for Whangārei

Hihiaua Cultural Centre Trust secretary Janet Hetaraka spent all last year editing the newly launched book, Me Anga Whakamua - Facing the Future. Photo / Tania Whyte

While many people may find the future confronting, an inspirational book and multi-media exhibition at the Hihiaua Cultural Centre in Whangārei is looking at it head-on.

The centre is weeks into the new exhibition, Me Anga Whakamua - Facing the Future, scheduled to continue all month.

Waitangi Day saw the book – the exhibition's namesake – launched to look back on the first encounters between Māori and Europeans in Tai Tokerau but also gaze forward towards a shared future.

The launch, funded by the Ministry of Culture and Heritage, attracted a swathe of high-profile personnel including Dame Jenny Shipley and Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon.

The trust's secretary and project co-ordinator, Janet Hetaraka, edited Me Anga Whakamua - Facing the Future, which is laden with exquisite photography by Whangārei's Diane Stoppard.

Captured within the book's pages are historical and topical narratives from tangata whenua giving different perspectives of their dual heritage and hopes for the future.

Hetaraka said around 16 portraits of tangata whenua filled the book and were taken by Stoppard during Tuia 250 in 2019.

Tuia 250 commemorated 250 years since the first onshore meetings between Māori and Pākehā. It also celebrated the voyaging heritage of Pacific people that led to the settlement of Aotearoa many generations before.

Hihiaua was the focal point of Tuia 250 in Whangārei, where crews were welcomed with a mass haka performed by school students lining the Onerahi foreshore.

The publication of Me Anga Whakamua - Facing the Future was supported by Te Au Marie Trust as a Tuia 250 legacy project.

"The book is very much the Māori voice – our stories, our history, and our aspirations for the future – but as most people who've read it say, it's for all New Zealanders," Hetaraka said.

"It's come at a crucial time for New Zealand. People are trying to divide us when in fact the Tuia is binding us together and has been an ongoing process for 252 years now."

The exhibition offers a different exploration in the form of traditional whakairo (carving), raranga (plaiting) as well as video interviews with the tangata whenua captured during Tuia 250, photography, prints, pottery and jewellery.

Both aligned with Hihiaua's commitment to restoring Māori identity in Whangārei, Hetaraka said.

"Books are very much a part of our culture...and the beautiful, beautiful things people have created for the exhibition are just inspirational and speak to our culture."

Me Anga Whakamua - Facing the Future is available for purchase exclusively from the Hihiaua Cultural Centre, with the proceeds used to help raise funds for the centre's planned stage two development.