Last year, our friends at Objectspace staged Pohewa Pāhewa, a Maori design kaupapa which began a kōrero about design in te ao Māori.
This September, the institution goes further, with a one-day symposium interrogating the ideas and pātai (questions) that formed around the event.
It’s an impressive line-up, including the multi-disciplinary artist, writer and curator Julie Paama-Pengelly (Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāi Tūwhiwhia, Ngāi Tauaiti, Ngāti Tapu), Ōtaki artist The Hori AKA Hōhepa Thompson (Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Kāi Tahu) along with Kaan Hiini (Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa, Te Arawa), design director at Curative, a creative agency inspiring positive change.
Another must: a panel discussion on wāhine in design led by Leonie Kapea Hayden (Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara, Ngāti Rango) and including Chloē Reweti (Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāti Tukorehe, Ngāti Porou), Kiri Nathan (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Maru, Ngāti Hauā, Ngāti Paoa) and Raukura Turei (Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, Ngā Rauru Kītahi).
Big days require big energy and Objectspace has worked with Raymond Otene Mckay – who is also speaking – from advertising and design agency Run Aotearoa, with Phantom Billstickers, to activate the space with a typography-based artwork playing on the word whaka. “Whaka is one of the most common causative prefixes in te reo Māori,” he says. “Meaning to cause something to happen or cause to be, it is very versatile and can be added to adjectives, statives and verbs. When used it can give a common everyday word new meaning and purpose, making it more powerful and persuasive.”
The installation plays on the word whaka as an important grammatical feature, as well as the negative connotations it comes with when pronounced in mainstream society. “Staged at the entrance, it sets a space to hold positive and negative in tandem. Like our ancestors, we’re always pushing and adapting our approach to te ao Māori and creativity. We want Pohewa Pāhewa attendees to leave the event emboldened to act on learnings made together.”
Pohewa Pāhewa – Māori Design Symposium
5–6 September 2024
Objectspace, 13 Rose Rd, Ponsonby
Tāmaki Makaurau
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