Matariki Festival At Te Papa

6 June 2007

MEDIA RELEASE

Matariki Festival At Te Papa – Celebrating The Mäori New Year, 16 June – 1 July

Matariki is a time of festivity for Mäori, and the Matariki Festival at Te Papa (Saturday 16 June – Sunday 1 July 2007) takes the spirit of this time to all the people of Aotearoa New Zealand with a two-week celebration of music, live performance, food and lectures.

Highlights of the festival include the Matariki Hangi Cuisine Cook-off, Te Papa’s Matariki Gala dinner, free concerts and performances, a lunchtime lecture series and NZ NU YEA 07, a day for youth by youth.

In the early June, the star cluster Matariki or Pleiades appears in our dawn skies. The Mäori New Year begins with the first new moon after the first appearance of Matariki, and this year the new moon appears on 17 June.

The first Sunday of the festival (17 June) celebrates NZ NU YEA 07 – a day of events presented by Koz we aint old productions, a group of five high school students from the Wellington area. Te Papa invited five high schools students from the Wellington area to produce a day of events aimed at rangatahi (youth). The day’s events will feature graffiti artists, krumping, hip-hop and a design competition

Family events include art and craft activities in the Discovery Centres, Matariki: Dawn Stars programme in StoryPlace and the ever-popular Te Huka ä Tai Whänau Day on Saturday 30 June. Children are also invited to celebrate Matariki with Mäori Television’s Pükana team with waiata, dance and great prizes on the Marae on Sunday 1 July.

The popular lunchtime discussions, Ngā Reo o Matariki, start on Monday 18 June on Te Papa’s Marae. Experts will discuss a range of topics such as the Ngäi Tahu traditions of muttonbirding, weaving and rock art. Also featured is Munya Andrews, a renowned Aboriginal writer, exploring the link between science and spirituality using Matariki legends and traditions from around the world.

Te Papa and Wellington City Council are proud to present the inaugural Matariki Hangi Cuisine Cook-off on Saturday 23 June. Five chefs from different ethic cooking traditions will add their unique flavours and style to the ingredients of a traditional Mäori hangi. Visitors can watch the hangi pit being prepared, interact with the chefs as they fill the hängi baskets and watch as judges Mayor Kerry Prendergast, chef Joe McLeod and food critic Des Britten decide whose hängi is best. Visitors can then enjoy a sample of hängi for free in the Te Papa Café.

One-off events include free sessions in Carter Observatory’s ‘Cosmodome’, concerts featuring the chamber ensemble STROMA and Tühonohono with the renowned Richard Nunns, and two performances of Boultbee, a production about the extraordinary story of English sealer, John Boultbee, who worked among southern coast Mäori.

The Matariki Gala 2007 on Saturday 23 June is an extravaganza of entertainment, superb indigenous cuisine and New Zealand wines. The 2007 Gala signature event is proving to be the most popular yet, with all tickets sold already. This year’s Gala will be hosted by Pio Terei with performances by opera soprano Timua Brenna and vocalist Tina Cross then guests will dance the night away to legendary band Ardijah.

Matariki is a time to pause and reflect – on the year that was, and the year that will be. Please join us during this special time for a fortnight of entertainment and education at Te Papa’s Matariki Festival. Celebrate the Mäori New Year at Our Place!

ENDS

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