7 Stars of Matariki new festival of words and performance in Hutt Valley

In January 1996 Baggage Co-op was created in a large decrepit room at 2 Campbell Tce, Petone under the umbrella of HVCA as part of the Wellington Fringe Festival. Fifteen years and numerous awards later they return to Petone with their latest production, 7 Stars of Matariki, an event that celebrates the Maori New Year and their own personal journey with a range of art mediums.

"Few people outside Maori communities celebrated Matariki in the past," says Stokes Valley storyteller and writer Moira Wairama, who together with her partner actor and storyteller Tony Hopkins co-founded Baggage Co-op. "Now Matariki celebrations are being held all over New Zealand by many different communities. We thought we would celebrate with an arts event in the Hutt Valley and the new performance venue The Box, in Petone seemed the perfect place to stage it!"

"We wanted to offer something for everyone which is why the programme is so varied and has such a large range of performers involved. We're even offering a limited number of storytelling matinees for local schools at a special reduced rate so kids won't miss out."

The last production Baggage staged in the Hutt Valley was their award winning play Questions for the 1999 Fringe at the Hutt Rep Theatre. The play was later adapted for TV and won a Qantas Media award.

Check out baggage co-op and past shows on www.bact.org.nz/baggage

Richard Hall, Stonehenge Aotearoa /Wairarapa.

It was only fitting that a Matariki event have an explanation about the stars and their relevance in New Zealand. Well known astronomer Richard Hall from Stonehenge Aotearoa has been invited to open the 7 Stars of Matariki with a one night only presentation Star Tales 7pm Fri 1 July.

Storytelling -workshops and performances. Wellington/ Hutt Valley/ Kapiti.

Well known Wellington storytellers Caroline E Welkin and Judith Jones are offering a one day storytelling workshop in response to requests from participants and audiences at the long running Wellington Storytellers Cafe. Interest in storytelling has continued to grow steadily and audiences come from the greater Wellington area, including the Hutt Valley and the Kapiti coast.

7pm Sat 2 July Tales Tall and True will feature 7 well known Wellington storytellers including Wainuiomata storyteller and writer Hera Black (Tuhoe) Kapiti teller Ralph Johnson and Stokes Valley teller and writer Moira Wairama. Stories include tales relating to the Wellington area and to Matariki itself.

Maori Playwright Whiti Heraka (Ngati Tuwharetoa and Te Arawa)

2pm Sun 3 July A reading of award winning playwright Whiti Hereaka's new play Rona and Rabbit in the Moon will be directed by well known Maori actor and director Tina Cook.

Whiti of Ngati Tuwharetoa and Te Arawa descent. She holds a MA in Creative Writing from the International Institute of Modern Letters, a BA in English Literature from Victoria University, and has also been recently admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand.

Whiti's play Te Kaupoi won the Adam New Play Award Best New Play by a Maori Playwright in 2010.

Her debut short film Unclaimed Luggage (produced by Kiwa Films,) is currently in post production. In 2005 her play Collective Agreement was produced as part of that year's Young and Hungry season and in 2011, her play For Johnny will also be performed in the Young and Hungry season. Whiti's first novel The Graphologist's Apprentice (Huia) was short listed for the Commonwealth Writers prize and was written while Whiti was 2007 Randell Cottage writer in resident .

Whiti is currently working on a play based on the poetry of Rowley Habib and her second novel.

Words Wine and Song an eclectic group of pacific poets and song writers from the greater Wellington region

Performers who may be of interest for media stories below. Full list of performers/ contacts on following list

Alice Te Punga Somerville (Te Atiawa poet, university lecturer /Hutt Valley)

Dr Alice Te Punga Somerville (Te Atiawa) teaches at Victoria University of Wellington, with specialisation in Maori, Pacific and Indigenous writing in English. she received her PhD at Cornell University (English & AIS), and spent time at the University of Hawaii at Manoa during her doctoral studies. As well as writing and performing her poetry she is completing her first book, Once Were Pacific, which explores Maori articulations of connection with the Pacific. Her next project, Kanohi ki te Kanohi, will look at Indigenous-Indigenous encounters.

Alice is also co chair of SPACLALS (the South Pacific Association for Commonwealth Language and Literary Studies) which will be hosting a three day conference in Wellington 23-25 June 2011 on the theme of 'Reading and Writing in the Pacific.'

Lewis Scott (African American poet and writer/Wellington)

As a jazz poet, L. E. Scott has worked with an array of poets and musicians in New Zealand and around the world. He has had more than fifteen books of poetry and prose published. He is the owner of Kwanza the African shop and runs the monthly Wellington poetry venue at The Ballroom Cafe in Newtown. Lewis was also involved in setting up the long running Hutt Valley Poets Pub venue and edited their first anthology.

Manea Pasilio (Tokelaun poet and film writer/ Petone)

Manea was born in Tokelau but came to live in New Zealand at age 9. As well as writing poetry she recently finished her first film script which is set in Tokelau. Manea will be performing with singer Mandy Scanlon, (Ngati Kahungunu/ Muaupoko) also from Petone

Rawiri Hirini and Joseph Hirini ( Ngati Porou, Ngati Kahungunu singers -songwriters/ Hutt Valley)

Brothers Rawiri and Jospeh Hirini perform separately and together, presenting their own distinct style of music.

Rawiri's original songs in both Maori and English are acoustic and lyrical while Jospeph's work tends toward rapping. Both men acknowledge the inspiration for their songs comes from their personal experiences.

Maraea Rakuraku (Tuhoe poet, playwright , journalist and radio producer/ Wellington)

A dynamic performance poet, Marea is currently working on her script The Prospect

Te Haerenga, a journey of identity.

Te Haerenga, a journey of identity was originally created for the 2005 Fringe festival. In 2006 it toured to the Glistening Waters Storytelling Festival in Masterton and the Pohutukawa Festival in the Coromandel. In 2010 it had a season at BATS theatre in Wellington and was performed at Koraunui Marae, Stokes Valley and Pataka Museum, Porirua. In June 2011 Te Haerenga will be touring to Whakatane and Te Kaha before returning for the 7 Stars of Matariki season July 1-9 at The Box, Petone

Te Haerenga, a journey of identity, combines the ancient art of storytelling with the drama of theatre to interweave three individual stories into one shared journey of New Zealand identity.

Set against the backdrop of New Zealand and world history and incorporating such diverse topics as the revival of the Maori language, the black civil rights movements in America, the woman's movement and the changing role of New Zealand males, Te Haerenga will amuse, provoke, inspire and delight.

Featuring Tony Hopkins, Moira Wairama , Ralph Johnson

Not only is this profound play a beautiful portrayal of life and personal growth but it also gave me a strong sense of 'who' is New Zealand and what comprises the different people that make up this beautiful country'

Michele Mancuso, Vancouver, Canada

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