Watch: Preparing for the biggest Cook Islands festival in Aotearoa
Te Maeva Nui NZ is seen as the largest Cook Islands cultural festival outside of the Cook Islands.
Moera Tuilaepa-Taylor went along to an audition night for the only team outside of Auckland, Oire-Te Whanganui a Tara with camera man Mark Papalii.
The biennial festival, which is in Auckland in October, will see over 1000 performers come together to celebrate the Cook Islands culture at its finest.
It will be an extravagant two-day showcase of creative arts, language, song, music and dance.
This year's theme is climate change, one of the most urgent and pressing challenges facing the Pacific region.
According to NZ Stats 2023 Census, over 94,000 people identified with the Cook Islands Maori ethnic group.
In the Cook Islands, Te Maeva Nui, which is a week-long event, will be celebrated in early August to mark the anniversary of the nation's self-governance on 4 August.
Photo:
RNZ / Mark Papalii
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
11 hours ago
- RNZ News
Sharon Van Etten: solo to jamming
Sharon Van Etten and The Attachment Theory perform in Wellington, Christchuch and Auckland this November. Photo: Supplied Sharon Van Etten's latest album is her seventh and first with her group The Attachment Theory. The new album, Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory , is the result of collaboration with her former touring band in the Californian desert. Despite previously being averse to jamming, Van Etten says she went against her own intuition and encouraged her bandmates to jam along with her at the end of a long week of rehearsals. The results left her inspired and this collaborative approach with her band became the backbone of the new record - her first full-band release. Susie speaks to Los Angeles-based Sharon Van Etten ahead of her shows in Wellington, Christchurch and Auckland this November . This audio is not downloadable due to copyright restrictions.
RNZ News
15 hours ago
- RNZ News
Light trail to celebrate Matariki goes on display
Auckland's Te Ara Rama Matariki Light Trail. Photo: Supplied A reflective light trail celebrating Matariki is on display for two weeks in the Auckland CBD, stretching for two kilometres from Myers Park to the waterfront. Auckland Council said the trail is guided by light and sound effects created by Māori artists, celebrating wai (water) - including the waters of Te Waihorotiu stream, the Waitematā Harbour and the life-giving value of rain. It said the trail is designed to allow people to pause and reflect on the rich history of the city centre. The trail begins with a stairway at Myers Park, designed by Tessa Harris (Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki), with patterns depicting pātiki (flounder), accompanied by the sounds of Waimahara. Turning on to Queen Street, a series of art installations tell the ancient stories of place - including Hotoriu - a nine-metre kaitiaki that symbolically guards the ancestral river, and the Waharoa (archway) in Aotea Square by artist Selwyn Murupaenga. The area carries the historic footprints of local Māori tribes who have thrived in the space for hundreds of years. Towards the harbour, a Kawau Tikitiki (a cormorant/shag) is suspended in flight above the street, and anyone visiting the area can walk beneath Te Wehenga between Fort Street and Shortland Street. Meanwhile, the downtown part of the light trail begins at Te Komititanga, the public square by Britomart train station. A brand new trail of light installations and lightboxes links Te Komititanga along Galway Street to Takutai Square and Māhuhu ki te Rangi Park (near Spark Arena). In Takutai Square, a light and sound installation by Arama Tamariki-Enu, Angus Muir and Catherine Ellis depicts patterns mimicking the star-like shapes of the Matariki cluster. An accompanying soundscape brings the sounds of the foreshore and forest before the modern city was founded. The Tūhono light projections in Takutai Square will play every evening from Thursday 19 June to Thursday 10 July, with a seven-minute light and sound sequence every quarter-hour from 5pm until 10pm. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
15 hours ago
- RNZ News
Kapa haka group celebrate Matariki in NZ's Northland
Pacific arts 32 minutes ago A group of kapa haka novices are planning to celebrate Matariki this weekend with their first-ever public show.
