Art of the New Year

The Maramataka is a sophisticated indigenous knowledge system that utilises the lunar calendar and maatauranga Maaori to guide the health and wellbeing of our people. The Maramataka also marks Matariki, the Maaori new year, now observed with a national holiday in Aotearoa. Maaori and Pasifika creative practitioners have engaged with Maramataka and Matariki for generations.

Toi o Te Tau Hou is a project that enables ten tuakana/established and ten teina/emerging indigenous artists who whakapapa to the Waikato, to explore this through customary and contemporary creative practice. We celebrate the connections between the Waikato and Moana-nui-a-kiwa and make no hierarchical distinction between the many art forms that our creative practitioners choose to employ.

Bought to you by Te Ohu Whakaita Charitable Trust, with support from the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, this online project aims to enable access to knowledge about the Maramataka and Matariki, through the creative hands, eyes, voice and movement of our people.