Wāhine weaves together intimate stories and photography.
Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
See below for English translation
Whiria te kaha tuamakaita e motu, honoa
Ko Wāhine he kaupapa nui whakaharahara e tōtō mai ana i ngā tātai kōrero me ngā whakaahua mana nui ki a kotahi mai,whaihoki e tū nei hai waka kawe ite reo o ngā wāhine katoa o Aotearoa.He kaupapa whakakotahi i te hāpori ki te titiro, ki te haupūaroaro, ki te wānanga hoki i ngā tini taumahatanga me ngā wikitoriatanga o ngā tau huhua nāna i whakaāhua i te kaha me te pakoko o te wāhine.Kai ia pikitia, kai ia whakaāhua he tātai kōrero. He pepeha nui, he kōrero rangatira e hāngai pū ana ki tāu e kite atu ai. Ko ētehi kai te kāinga, ko ētehi kai te marae, ko ētehi kai he anoa atu e noho ana.
He kaupapa hakoke i te motu tēnei. Ka tae ki rohe kē atu ka pōwhiringia he wahine ki a uru mai ki te waka. Ki Rotorua nei, kua karangahia a Ngamonu Huata. He uri nō Tūhourangi-Ngāti Wāhiao, Ngāti Rangiwewehi me Ngāti Whare).’ He aroha nui ki te iwi. He aroha nui hoki ki ngā iwi katoa o tēnei motu engari anō taku whakahīhī ki taku mana motuhake. He ahakoa tēnei kōrero kaha, e pūare ana taku manawa ki ngā iwi kē atu. He mana tō tēnā iwi. Hai aha noa atu te hē me te tika, ko te mana ki a rātau, ā, ko te mana ki a tātau me ngā ritenga o tēnei takiwā'. Hai tā Ngamoni.
Ngamoni Huata (nee Gardiner) is an accomplished weaver, piupiu maker, who is also a kapa haka judge.
He wahine ruku kapa a Ngamoni. I whānau i Te Whakarewarewa, otīā he wahine mātau ki te raranga hoki. Ko Whariki tōna matua wahine, he mātau hoki ia ki te raranga.
He mōhio hoki ki te mahi piupiu. He pēnā tonu ia ki ngā wāhine katoa o Te Whakarewarewa, ko ngā whaea katoa he mōhio nō rātau ki te mahi piupiu, ki te poi, ki te whatu me te taniko hoki hai awhina ki te kawe i ngā nama o te kāinga.
He tū kapa haka hoki rātau. Nōnā e taitamariki ana ka noho a Ngamoni i Waikato-Tainui. He wahine rangatira ki te raranga. Ko tētehi o ōna kahu mō ngā tupapaku anahe ka tau ki Wāhiao.
He kaupapa kai te tiakina e te pahi nō Whakatū. Kai ngā atatū he wā tātai kōrero me te whakawhānau-ngatanga. Kāore he nama.
He kore utu. E tūwhera ana ki ngā tangata me ngā reanga katoa. Ka tu ki Ngā Mareikura i Te Whakarewarewa. Ka timata ā te tuaono o Mei tae ki te kotahi o Hune.’ Me tae a tinana te tangata e mātau ai tōna wairua ki te ihi me te wehi o ngā wāhine e whakahuri ai tōna titiro ki tea o whānaui’. Hai tā Dr Jay van der Reijden,PhD Archaeology. Whakatū.
—Na Raimona Inia i whakamaori
English Translation
Weaving together intimate sound stories and powerful portrait photography, Wāhine is an immersive multi-media arts exhibition that amplifies Māori women’s voices around Aotearoa.
Wāhine offers communities an opportunity to come together, to be enriched and inspired by these raw, honest and vulnerable stories – stories that touch on the joys and inspirations, the troubles and tribulations, and the resilience that has moulded these wāhine into the women they are.
The deeply personal words of each interview are woven together from real-life recordings captured by the women themselves and accompanied by portraits taken at each woman’s home, marae, or their chosen location.
As it travels around Aotearoa, Wāhine expands at each new location, inviting a wāhine from a local iwi to join the kaupapa and hold space for the other women.
Here in Rotorua, Ngamoni Huata (Tūhourangi-Ngāti Wāhiao, Tūhoe, Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Ngāti Whare) is joining the kaupapa.
“I think it’s the love of people, appreciating different cultures. So even though I’m proud of mine because that’s who I am, this is what I am!
“They all have their own. And it’s not about right or wrong, this is just the way they do things, and this is the way we do things,” said Ngamoni. A penny diver, Ngamoni was born and raised at Whakarewarewa and has been weaving since she was young, helping her mother Whariki. That was making piupiu.
Most of the Whakarewarewa women, including my mother and her aunts, made piupiu, poi and tāniko to supplement their husbands’ incomes.
They also performed on the concert stage.
Ngamoni, a superb exponent of haka, spent most of her adult life in Waikato-Tainui.
She is a beautiful weaver and made kākahu for use at tangihanga in Wahiao.
Facilitated by the Nelson-based creators of Wāhine, the workshop offers a morning of storytelling and connection, drawing on the exhibition’s kaupapa and bringing in some knowledge and stories in Te Ao Māori.
This free to attend workshop welcomes all (ages 16+), will be held in Ngā Mareikura, Whakarewarewa – The Living Māori Village.
The exhibition runs from May 6 to June 1.
“This is one of the very few exhibitions that you experience within a lifetime that has the ability to entirely change your life,” said Dr Jay van der Reijden, PhD Archeology, of Nelson.
