Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
FRINGE '04: Mai Te Ao Kohatu Ki Te Ao Maarama
Getting to the stars will never be so easy after Stonehenge Aotearoa goes on stage at 2004 Fringe NZ Festival in Wellington.
Stonehenge Aotearoa / Mai Te Ao Kohatu Ki Te Ao Marama (literally 'from the stone-age to the world of understanding') is an audio visual concert that celebrates the journey some of our ancestors made from under northern hemisphere skies to the Pacific. Journey's end is now being set up in a henge of stones on the Wairarapa site of the Phoenix Astronomical Society incorporating Maori navigational star lore along with the tracking of our southern hemisphere stars and planets.
Stonehenge producer, Piripi Whaanga says his Irish and Maori ancestors understood the heavens and used them to mark seasons for planting and hunting as well as fishing and harvesting. "Kei te nohotahi oku tupuna i te ao kohatu i waenga i a Papatuanuku raua ko Ranginui. They lived in harmony with their natural world."
CLICK FOR BIG VERSION
Hine-nui-te-po Over Stonehenge
Piripi says the link between the earth and the heavens was recorded in groupings of stones or henges around the world and celebrated in the arts such as song, dance and paintings and carvings. "Early humans who had knowledge of the heavens were also artists. It's been a relatively recent development that the sciences and arts became separate disciplines."
He says Stonehenge Aotearoa, the concert links the hearts and minds again through our ancestors journey and brings us back home to ourselves in Aotearoa. "It shows we have a common heritage that predates the current foreshore debate and gives us a bigger perspective of on this planet."
CLICK FOR BIG VERSION
Mai Te Ao Kohatu – The Henge
-
Stonehenge Aotearoa is a joint projcet of the Phoenix
Astronomical Society and Tu Tangata Maori Productions Ltd.
The venue is Thistle Hall, upper Cuba St and runs from
Friday Feb 27 to Wed Mar 3 at 7.30 pm each night. Matinees
run on Sat and Sun at 2pm. Tickets cost $10 and can be
booked on (04) 4770284 or online www.tutangata.com
University of Auckland: Tributes Flow For Much Loved Pacific Leader Melegalenu’u Ah Sam
NZEI: Ministry Of Education Cuts Will Disproportionately Affect Pasifika
Day One Hapai te Haeata: Call To Action For Young Filmmakers Against The Backdrop Of Funding Cuts
Toyota New Zealand: Three Races For Top Three To Decide TR86 Title
Wellington City Council: Wellington Is All Action Stations For The Faultline Ultra Festival
Melanie Allison: Local Playwright Casts A Spell Over Hamilton