CONNECT WITH PEOPLE AND PLACE AT THE TE TAIRĀWHITI ARTS FESTIVAL
It’s easy to forget life before perfectly chilled chardonnay and fluorescent surfboards, to look back to the days when waka lined the Eastland coastline and Māori legends were passed down by word of mouth. Compelling stories are still told, of course, but now by creatives like renowned novelist and Whale Rider author Witi Ihimaera.
Over three weekends in October, Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival director Tama Waipara will shine a spotlight on the region’s creative powerhouses, illuminating Aotearoa’s iconic landscape and people with more than 70 live events in and around Gisborne. The inaugural festival includes performing arts, music, kapa haka, visual arts and storytelling — taking visitors into churches, maraes, and even onto the beach.
“It’s an opportunity for people to go into places they’ve never seen before,” says Tama, who worked as a programming manager for the Auckland Arts Festival for five years. “Art-lovers don’t necessarily need to go and sit in a theatre to experience art,” he says, although there will be plenty of that, too, with performances in Gisborne’s cultural hubs such as the War Memorial Theatre, Lawson Field Theatre, and the grassy beach-adjacent amphitheatre at the Soundshell.
Actor and playwright Nancy Brunning’s new play Witi’s Wahine will pay homage to Witi Ihimaera, drawing inspiration from the author’s stories and female Māori characters.
“I always say that a festival is the art of bringing people together. We’re a platform for connections,” says Tama.
He encourages visitors to connect with local food, culture and picturesque scenery while in the region, because, above all, the festival is about what it means to be of Tairāwhiti. 4 to 20 October, venues in and around Gisborne and Tairāwhiti, tickets at tetairawhitiartsfestival.nz