Tamariki Toa - Courageous Children

Months of preparation for these children, with ages ranging from 7 to 11, culminate with a performance at the national primary school Kapa Haka competition, where they placed second nationally in their category. This celebration of the traditional performing arts of Māori, the indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand, is part of a cultural renaissance blossoming from efforts to revitalise the first language and culture of our nation. My series communicates the emotionally charged process of preparation that these children go through as they ready themselves to stand on the stage in front of a large live and televised audience. My vision for presenting these would be to inkjet print them on photo rag and pin them to the wall. I would want the presentation to be simple and vulnerable, to mirror the children. Sounds from the performance would provide ambient noise for the installation. The photos would be book ended with two videos that viewers could listen to with head phones. The video at the start would be of the children performing on stage and the video at the end would be a post performance interview in Te Reo Māori, the Māori language, that the tutor gave along with one of the groups leaders. The opening of the installation would be preceded by a traditional karakia or blessing and accompanied by live kapa haka. Refreshments would be provided by Kono New Zealand, a fully integrated Māori food and beverage business and the owners of Tohu, the worlds first and most widely recognised Māori owned wine company.