Te Waka Toi Grants

Media release

Date: 1 December 2004

Te Waka Toi grants

Grants for a film festival in Wairoa, participation in WOMAD in Adelaide, and the opening exhibition at the new Moving Image Centre premises are among the latest projects funded from Te Waka Toi, the Mäori arts board of Creative New Zealand.

Te Waka Toi chair Elizabeth Ellis said today the range of grants showed a great diversity in current Mäori arts practices.

"There is an exciting range of projects that show Mäori artists are at the top of their profession. There is also lots of activity at a grassroots level to ensure that traditional Mäori arts and culture are preserved and the skills and knowledge passed down through the generations," Ms Ellis said.

Te Waka Toi Board received 86 applications for project funding for this round, seeking over $2.2 million. A total of $654,578 is being offered to 40 projects.

The Wairoa Taiwhenua and Culture Board and Rautaki Group Consultants have been offered $11,000 towards a film festival in Wairoa next June.

Organizer Leo Koziol said the festival would carry the theme Mana Wairoa: The World through a Maori Lens.

"A unique energy is growing for an exciting event here in Wairoa next year. The goal will be to turn traditional perceptions of Wairoa (crime, poverty) on their head and make the town a centre for cultural creativity and renaissance. This is something very positive for the community," Mr Koziol said.

Te Waka Toi has also offered support to Rotorua kapa haka group Te Matarae i o Rehu, and singer-songwriter Mahinarangi Tocker to travel to the WOMAD (World of Music, Arts and Dance) Festival in Adelaide next year. The festival is expected to attract more than 70,000 people.

"WOMAD helps put Maori music, and te reo Maori on the world stage," says Mäori arts advocate Emere Wano. "This is the first time that a kapa haka group has performed at a WOMAD outside of New Zealand and we're really excited about the potential exposure."

Both Te Matarae i o Rehu and Mahinarangi Tocker will also be performing in New Zealand's WOMAD in Taranaki next March.

Film-maker and multi-media artist Lisa Reihana has been offered a $32,000 grant to develop and curate the first exhibition at the new Moving Image Centre in Auckland.

"It's an honour to be supported by Te Waka Toi to curate this exhibition. It's a fantastic opportunity and a great space to show off recent Maori and Pacific Island video installation works," she said.

Restless will open around the middle of next year and will be a 'gritty exhibition of time based works and video installations' involving artists like Brett Graham, John Miller and Parekohai Whakamoe.

Other highlights of the recent funding round include:

* A $21,000 grant offered to Charlotte Graham and Gordon Hatfield towards a publication and exhibition Nga Karaetao.

* Brothers Tama and Zak Waipara have both been offered grants - New York based Tama $10,000 to record and album and Aucklander Zak $4000 for a graphic novel.

* A $32,000 grant offered to the Ngawai Whanau Trust towards a theatre production on the life and songs of Tuini Ngawai.

* A $30,000 grant offered to the Poraumati Wananga Committee towards a two-week wananga on whatu, kakahu raranga by Eddie Maxwell.

ENDS

A full list of grants offered by Te Waka Toi in the latest funding round is available on line at: http://www.creativenz.govt.nz/funding/grants/04-05-1.pdf

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