"It depicts the ancestral story of Puketapu, Tamarau, who descended down from the heavens and his maiden, Ronga-ue-roa. From that union came Awanui-a-rangi."
Theresa says every element in the new airport terminal relates to the cultural narrative – from the architecture, to the plantings and colour palette used, to the 75m of tukutuku panelling.
"Rangi's philosophy is that this design will last for 50 years. It's not going to age.
"The actual building is constructed in an arch. You have air side and land side, and that is a form of embracing and welcome. It's not only an airport, it's the gateway, and Puketapu will extend its manaakitanga to all."
A dedicated retail space for Māori businesses to showcase their products and talent will be included in the terminal building.
The details of the airport's unique cultural design will feature in dedicated workshops at WOMAD's Te Paepae marquee.
This is where festival partner, Tui Ora, will host a space profiling cutting-edge food, design and tourism taking place among some of the region's iwi and hapū enterprises.
Rangi Kipa will himself present workshops on opening night at 5.30pm, 7.15pm and 9.15pm.
Tui Ora Economic Development Relationships Manager Ngamata Skipper says iwi in Taranaki are involved in many exciting initiatives and businesses, and WOMAD is a perfect place to highlight these achievements.
"We have a long association with WOMAD and know that Te Paepae as a destination is the cultural heartbeat of the festival. This year, we wanted to be proactive in different ways and present a face of success and enterprise," she says.
"Tui Ora is about helping to support and promote Māori enterprise and development. This is because economic development is a key foundation to whānau ora (family health). Happy, healthy whānau need to have economic independence to prosper."
This is also reflective of Tui Ora's evolution, Ngamata says.
Established as a pan-iwi health and social services organisation in 1998, it is using skills, experience and networks built over two decades to explore ways it can support iwi, hapū and whānau communities – as well as businesses and other organisations in areas like housing, financial literacy and data analytics.
■ Also happening at the Te Paepae site will be Workshops by Kaitahi, an indigenous food business aligned with South Taranaki iwi Nga Rauru that uses traditional Māori ingredients in smoothie drops (Saturday and Sunday, 11.30am)
Maramataka Māori, the ancient art of reading the moon and night skies (Saturday and Sunday, 5pm) and sessions on kumara growing and development of community gardens (Saturday and Sunday, 3pm)
