Copyright Mana Moana Collective
Pōneke 2025
Mana Moana Pōneke 2025
‘In time, like te ao marama emerging out of te pō, mourning gives way to dreaming.’
- Moana Jackson
Mana Moana 2025 is returning with the rise of Puanga on the 7th of June every weekend through to Matariki weekend on the 22nd of June at Whairepo Lagoon in Te Whanganui a Tara.
The films this year have been curated by Israel Randell (Rarotonga, Tainui, Ngāti Kahungunu) and are guided by the wise words of Moana Jackson’s: ‘In time, like te ao marama emerging out of te pō, mourning gives way to dreaming.’ Randell says her curatorial direction has been informed by the 50th anniversary of the land march led by Whina Cooper and how that time is mirrored again with our recent largest hīkoi ever to parliament.
This sense of return to the past brings grief – as is tika at this time of remembrance. What Puanga ki Matariki also offers us is hope and the space to pause and dream our future into being.
Join us in the dream space of the water screen as the stories of Te Moana Nui a Kiwa wash in and reverberate into the city of political decision making, the city of change. Let them awaken the spirit of kōtahitanga, the call for unity and collective transformation. Gather with us as we honour the things we are grieving and make space for our collective dreaming.
Info.
Whairepo Lagoon Te Whanganui a Tara
June 7-8, 14-15, 19-22, 2025
6pm-9pm / 40 min loop
Artworks
Kia Āio te Ao Marama, 2025
Kia Āio Te Ao Marama is an audio work by Ngataiharuru Taepa (Te Arawa, Te Āti Awa) that invites us to pause and reflect during the period of Puanga and Matariki. It’s intention is to create moments the community can consider and give thought to Te Pani, those experiencing distress, hardship, or bereavement. As a whakatau for this series, the voice of Taranaki Whānui rangatira Kura Moeahu (Te Ātiawa, Ngā Ruahine, Taranaki-tūturu, Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Tama, Ngāti Toa), pūoro by Horomona Horo (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou, Taranaki), and sound design by Josh Parata (Te Ātiawa ki Whakarongotai, Ngāti Toa, Te Rarawa) weave ancestral frequencies, combining thought and intention to invoke Rongomau —peace— here in Aotearoa and across the world. When you hear this work, we ask you to stop for a moment. Take time to consider those in difficulty, and help contribute to a collective consciousness of peace and wellbeing.
Kia āio te pō, kia āio te ata, kia āio te ao mārama.
Kia tau i runga, kia tau i raro, kia āio te noho.
Let the night be peaceful, let the dawn be peaceful, let the world of light be peaceful.
Ka puna te wai, ko te kāwai puna, 2015
Ka Puna Te Wai, Ko Te Kāwai Puna by Rachael Rakena (Kāi Tahu, Ngā Puhi) celebrates the relationship between tūpuna and mokopuna as they play at the water’s edge, connecting generations across oceans of time and space, and exploring the nuances of Pacific diaspora and Maori identity within the artist’s own whānau. The song, composed by Afuha’amango (Tonga) and performed by Fuekafa, is a farewell sung by those who are leaving in pursuit of love. It becomes all the more poignant once our tūpuna have passed.
Ka Rāranga Wai, 2019
Ka Rāranga Wai was made in 2019 featuring paintings by Robyn Kahukiwa (Ngāti Porou, Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, Ngāti Hau, Ngāti Konohi, Te Whānau-a-Ruataupare, Te Whānau-a-Te Aotawarirangi), in collaboration with the poetry and voices of Tina Ngata (Ngāti Porou), Dayle Takitimu (Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau a Apanui), and Michelle Ngamoki (Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau a Apanui). Animated by Johnson Witehira (Tamahaki, Ngāi Tū-te-auru, Ngāti Hinekura) with soundscape by Warren Maxwell (Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngai Te Rangi). Paintings are brought to life, telling stories of the ways water carves through land and falls as tears from Ranginui. Now we think of the legacy that Kōkā Robyn has left us – and we weep with love, acknowledging her passing. We honour the force that is and was our māreikura, Robyn Kahukiwa, and present this as a maimai aroha.
Tiwha tiwha te Pō, 2019
Tiwha tiwha te Pō is a film by the 7558 Collective; Jamie Berry (Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki, Rongowhakaata, Ngāti Porou, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Ruanui), Pikihuia Haenga (Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Porou), Te Kahureremoa Taumata (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Tūwharetoa) and Leala Faleseuga (Sāmoa Salelologa). Based on the prophecy of Ngāti Maru Tohunga Toiroa in 1766 which foretold the coming of strangers and a time of darkness. Toiroa drew his prophecy in the sand depicting the arrival of Cook and the Endeavour, and also Arikirangi, a grandchild of Toiroa, still to be born. It came true 3 years later. Decades after, Toiroa’s descendant Te Kooti Arikirangi led the resistance movement to free his people from foreign oppression.
Tulouna le Lagi, 2022
Tulouna Le Lagi is Pati Tyrell’s (Samoa) visual interpretation of alagaupu (proverbs) used within Samoan funeral chants and speeches. Imagery from the artist’s personal photographic archive are layered into the upu and chanted like a drum. The hypnotic film weaves a pathway for us to pay attention to the tohu of our time.The effect is spell like, as if all that is no longer needed is an offering to the ancestors, and here now is queer perfection shaping a future that is swag.
Tūātea, 2020
Tūātea is created and performed by Louise Pōtiki Bryant (Kāi Tahu) with dancer and choreographer Bianca Hyslop (Te Arawa, Ngāti Whakaue-kaipapa, Tūhourangi-Ngāti Wāhiao), and soundscape by Paddy Free with pūoro by Horomona Horo. Hinemoana, atua of the sea is embodied by Pōtiki and Hyslop’s grace and mana with movements juxtaposing the wild waves she dances within. Tūātea explores this power and depth, essential to our moana and it’s people, despite the storms around us.
Vā Hina, 2025
Vā Hina is by Dr Nālani Wilson-Hokowhitu (Hawai’i) and visually brought to life by Tayla Hartemink (Ngai Tūhoe) with a soundscape by Laughton Kora (Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Pūkeko) and directed by Mike Bridgman (Tonga). It is a voyage through time and space. The film describes the shapeshifting manifestations of ancestor Hina in a dreamscape story. We venture from Ma’ohi Nui, Ra’iātea, sailing through Te Ava a Hina to Molokai Nui a Hina. She sails to Aotearoa and in the latter phase of her life and shapeshifts to become Hina the great watch woman who resides in the moon and watches over travellers at night.
WAEREA,2024
Waerea is by the award winning musician Mokotron (Ngāti Hine) . This work explores the ways in which cycles of violence and trauma can be passed from one generation to the next, and the need to find ways of expressing these experiences so we can heal from them and stand in our own mana. Waerea is visually embodied by the making process of uku artist Stevei Houkāmau (Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau a Apanui) and video artist Simon Ward. Repeating patterns reveal and reflect the shaping of our futures informed from our past.
Collapsed worlds, 2019
Collapsed Worlds by Johnson Witehira (Tamahaki, Ngāi Tū-te-auru, Ngāti Hinekura) with music by Rio Hemopo-Hunuki (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Arawa, Niuē) is an exploration into the atua of our underworld. Within the centre is a tara of Hinenuitepō, the place where Māui was crushed in his attempts to gain immortality for humankind. In this animation carvings, sailing ships, and compasses sail into the centre where a child in utero represents us all. This film looks at our Māori and Pākehā world views and the way in which the past can impact the shape our future takes and whether it gives us life or collapses.