Te Mātakitaki i te hara i a Te Haranui
Exhibition on show at Te Awamutu Museum!
A significant exhibition commemorating 200 years since the battle Mātakitaki in 1822.
At that time, Mātakitaki was the metropolis of Ngāti Hikairo, with the site being made up of three distinct components – fortified pā.
Te Haranui was from Ngā Puhi and a nephew of Hongi Hika. After being killed during a feud with a local man, word reached his Uncle. Hongi Hika, and his very large ope group eventually set off from Te Tai Tokerau, seeking revenge for the death of Te Haranui.
Due to this attack, and the subsequent massacre of thousands at Mātakitaki, the name was adapted to Te Mātakitaki i te hara i a Te Haranui – the observance of the wrongdoing committed against Te Haranui. Hence the reason why the exhibition is so named, to highlight this not so well known name.
Te Awamutu Museum have been working closely with mana whenua for many months preparing this showcase, both of which are looking forward to sharing this special kōrero with those who visit.
“It’s been a privilege to collaborate with hapū iwi members to share collective stories of life, loss and reconciliation,” said Henriata Nicholas Museum Exhibitions Coordinator. “This being the 200th commemoration of the 1822 attack on the pā, it’s been an amazing experience to highlight these stories to the communities of Waipā from a hapū iwi perspective.”
The exhibition was due to open on the commemorative date 28th May 2022, as part of a week-long wānanga events at local marae. However, due to Covid restrictions, the organising committee decided on small dedication ceremonies this year with the opportunity for a bigger event in 2023. Committee members also decided the exhibition at the Museum continue and be opened in 2022.
The exhibition includes story board narratives about the history of Mātakitaki, as well as various taonga on display and audio mōteatea.
Come on in and immerse yourself in this story sharing event.
September 2022 – January 2023
For further enquiries contact:
Hinga Whiu – Hinga.Whiu@tainui.co.nz
Ngā Kura o Tua Whakarere
A collaborative exhibition with Raukawa, portraying the history and journey of Ngāti Raukawa. An immersive display of stories, images, taonga, audio, video and educative animations.
Open mid April – June 2022
“Poipoia te kakano, kia puāwai”
“Nurture the seed and it will blossom”
Puāwai is an engaging creative studio workshop environment where audiences participate in various creative activities and art development practise with an artist’s creative space.
Oriwa Morgan-Ward is a Māori artist who has been working with the Museum for a number of years as an arts practitioner sharing and presenting educational programs, and workshops to all Museum visitors of all ages.
Puāwai is Oriwa’s way to showcasing her next stage of creative development as a Māori arts practitioner.
“I help people tap into their creativity through the essence of my language te reo Māori and with mind, body, wellness practices. With my cultural and traditional values of aroha, manaki and kaitiakitanga, my mission is to awaken the creative genius in others and encourage all that is positive.”
Whakaoho i te tama i roto. Whakaoho i te hine i roto.
Awaken the masculine and feminine with.
Puāwai is open from July – end of September 2021
Due to popular demand, we have extended this exhibition until July 2021. This is a great opportunity for all that missed out on visiting this exhibition during Covid change of levels, to see textiles from the Museum collection up close and personal.
As this is our response to the #FormalFridays Instagram hashtag that went viral with up to 40,000 tags alone, we thought it would be awesome if you would tag yourself with your #FormalFriday outfit on our Instagram @teawamutu_museum!
We’ll have a new video up and posted when we have time….watch this space!
Our latest exhibition is what I would like to call a rapid response show- one that was created on a very short timeline in response to what is happening in the world around us the moment.
Formal Friday became a whimsical trend in New Zealand during our response to Covid-19 global pandemic.
We’ve heard it all before; we went into lockdown for weeks on end, we were asked to work from home, we socially distanced, we shrunk our social bubbles and started living in our comfy gear. Whether this was all day in active wear, rotating the same pair of trackpants, or refusing to put on “real clothes.”
In effort to break up the monotony New Zealand moved from casual Fridays at the office, to Formal Fridays at home. All championed by our very own TV personality Hilary Barry!
Wearing Formal wear on Fridays uplifted our spirits, got us looking in our closets for our best glad rags and made Friday meetings on zoom something to look forward to.
The movement of
#FormalFridays went viral with up to 40,000 tags alone on Instagram and many others taking part across other social media channels.
At Te Awamutu Museum we chose to harness this energy to ignite our own textile collection by creating a show that spans from the 1830s until today, and show what Formal Friday has meant to different people over time. Whether this is through the ceremonial outfits, what we once wore as daily attire, our uniforms or our best wears to church on a Sunday.
For our attempt at developing and creating a rapid response show and getting it all together in 6 weeks, we are pretty proud with how it all came together!
Here’s a video by our Megan Denz (Collections Manager) showing you some highlights from the exhibition.
Due to popular demand, we have extended this exhibition and will add new components to it. Watch this space!
