Parihaka voices - Free events this weekend

Contact: Anne Irving (04) 801 3959
or fax (04) 801-3096
Email: anne.irving@wcc.govt.nz
www.parihaka.city-gallery.org.nz
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
1 September 2000
CITY GALLERY WELLINGTON
PO Box 2199, Wellington, New Zealand

Parihaka voices - Free events this weekend
Saturday 2 – Sunday 3 September

Young people from Parihaka will be among those giving voice to stories of their exceptional home at City Gallery Wellington this weekend. As ‘kaiarahi’ (guides), they will be talking to the public about their experiences of growing up and living at Parihaka, and about artworks that are particularly significant to them.

The programme of free events this weekend also includes talks in the City Cinema by Professor of Religious Studies at Victoria University, Paul Morris, and Dick Scott, author of the ground-breaking history of Parihaka, Ask that Mountain (1975). The kaiarahi will give weekend talks on the Gallery floor every half hour, starting at 10.30am this weekend, and on following weekends: 23-24 September; 7-8 October; and 21-22 October. They will speak in English or Te Reo, according to their audience. The kaiarahi programme has been funded by Te Waka Toi, Creative New Zealand.

“We are honoured to have six young people from Parihaka here at the Gallery to share their own unique stories,” says Paula Savage, director. “Parihaka is a living history so it’s important that there is a strong presence from the people of Parihaka. We are receiving the kaiarahi in the spirit of reciprocity; they have much to teach us.”

Professor Paul Morris will discuss the peaceful message of Te Whiti o Rongomai and Tohu Kâkahi in their New Zealand and wider context, challenging us to re-think our futures together under the Treaty of Waitangi (Sunday 3 September, 1pm). Dick Scott will talk with Te Miringa Hohaia and Gregory O'Brien about how he became involved with the people of the Pâ, their history, and the far-reaching influence of the Parihaka story (Sunday 3 September, 3pm).

A partnership project between City Gallery Wellington and Parihaka Pâ Trustees.
Generously supported by: New Zealand Millennium Office; The New Zealand Lottery Grants Board; Creative New Zealand Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa; Wellington City Council; Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa; Taranaki Museum. Generously sponsored by: Bell Gully Barristers and Solicitors; Wakatu Incorporation; Tohu Wines; Parininihi Ki Waitotara Incorporation; The Dominion; The Evening Post; City Gallery Wellington Foundation. City Gallery Wellington is managed by the Wellington Museums Trust with major funding from the Wellington City Council.

ENDS.

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