Ngaarara o te Wao: Toi Taiao Whakatairanga

We invite you to hear from Toi Taiao Whakatairanga’s commissioned artists about their projects and process, and to participate in discussion about the wider potential for the arts and creative practices to respond to diverse ecological threats faced by species and ecosystems in Aotearoa and across the world.

Toi Taiao Whakatairanga is a cross-disciplinary research project, which brings together arts, science and te reo Māori to raise awareness of threats to the health of our ngāhere. Over three years the project is commissioning artists to develop new artwork through creative engagement with iwi, hapu and community across areas impacted by kauri dieback disease (Phytopthora agathidicida) and myrtle rust (Autropuccinia psidii). By tracing the dynamics of interactions between communities, artists, Mana Whenua and people engaged in forest kaitiaki, Toi Taiao Whakatairanga aims to contribute to understandings of how artistic practices can engage with colonial science and mātauranga Māori frameworks.

Artists: Dan Nathan (Te Roroa), Charlotte Graham (Hauraki, Waikato, Ngati Mahuta, Ngai Tai, Ngati Tamaoho), Tyrone Ohia (Ngāti Pūkenga, Ngāi te Rangi), Aroha Novak (Ngai Te Rangi, Tūhoe, Ngati Kahungunu), Tanya Ruka (Ngāti Pakau Te Uriroroi, Te Parawhau, Te Mahurehure Ngāpuhi Waitaha-Hokianga).

The Toi Taiao Whakatairanga collective comprises: Ariane Craig-Smith – curator, The Kauri Project Dr Molly Mullen – arts, community and education lecturer and researcher, Waipapa Taumata Rau/The University of Auckland, Dr Nick Waipara (Rongawhakaata, Ngāti Ruapani ki Turanga) – plant pathologist, Plant and Food Research, Chris McBride – curator, The Kauri Project, Sophie Jerram – curator, researcher, Waipapa Taumata Rau/The University of Auckland, Victoria University, Dr Mark Harvey (Mātāwaka/Ngāti Toa) – artist, curator, conservationist and researcher, Waipapa Taumata Rau/The University of Auckland, and Chervelle Athena – artist, PhD candidate, AUT University.

Toi Taiao Whakatairanga is part of the research programme Mobilising for Action: Focusing on the human dimensions of forest health management, specifically kauri dieback and myrtle rust, funded through Ngā Rākau Taketake by the National Science Challenge.

Image: Untitled, Ariane Craig-Smith (Kaiterekihi Beach, Te Wao Nui a Tiriwa) 2022 (detail).

25 June

Online event – join the Zoom here