Waitangi Day Celebrations at Christchurch Gallery

26 January 2009

Waitangi Day Celebrations at Christchurch Art Gallery

Acclaimed New Zealand Māori songwriter and vocalist Toni Huata will perform free in the forecourt at Christchurch Art Gallery as part of next month’s Waitangi Day celebrations.

Huata’s performance on Friday, 6 February, is part of a varied line-up that includes a modern hāngi, film, poetry readings and kapa haka.

The event opens at 1pm with a kapa haka performance by Mareikura - Christchurch’s only youth-focused professional kapa haka group.

Writer Ben Brown will give the first of two poetry readings before Huata takes the stage at 1.45pm with her modern take on Māori song.

Huata fuses traditional sounds with modern musical influences, adding a unique twist to her music, and has performed around the world – from London jazz club Ronnie Scott’s to New Zealand's National Museum, Te Papa Tongarewa.

At 11am and 1pm, the modern hāngi will be fired up, with food available for $8. Modern hāngi uses machines to replicate the traditional hāngi method of cooking food by burying it in the ground with heated rocks.

Free screenings of Vincent Ward’s new film Rain of the Children will take place at 11am and 3pm in the Philip Carter Family Auditorium. Weaving drama with documentary, the film unravels the extraordinary story of a Māori woman chosen to marry the son of a prophet.

 Waitangi Day Celebrations at Christchurch Art Gallery, from 1pm, 6 February, 2009.

ENDS

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