Reknowned musician, producer, and innovator Tiki Taane (Ngāti Maniapoto) and multidisciplinary artist Kereama Taepa (Te Arawa, Te Āti Awa) have joined forces and merged their two worlds to create the brand new performance experience ̶ Mai Te Uira. This four-centre tour will be presented in Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay, Whangārei, and Te Puke from 15-31 May.
Grounded in a karakia that references the atua and the whakapapa of our artforms, Mai Te Uira explores how innovation can be transformative when we open our minds to new ways of thinking.
Told through the stories of three atua ̶ Te Uira, the atua of lightning and new connections like technology, digital culture, and cyberspace; Tānemahuta, a creator himself, providing us with our own capability and capacity to create; and Hine-te-Iwaiwa, whose strength we seek when searching for knowledge to give, receive, and connect ̶ , this creative collaboration of music and digital animation reflects the transmission of knowledge and cements ancestral relationships.
“I’m so excited about this performance piece as it feels like we’ve opened up a musical matrix of cultural realms. Flickering between the two worlds in real time, I’ll be navigating the live soundscape using traditional and electronic instruments to accompany Kereama’s incredible visuals,” says Tiki Taane.
“Mai Te Uira is about a connection to the digital spaces we increasingly find ourselves in… though simultaneously it’s about the creative process – and most times part of the creative process is engaging and collaborating with others. I’m just stoked to be working with Tiki on this project… a fusion of skills to bring the experiential feast that is Mai Te Uira,” says Kereama Taepa.
This creative collaboration is presented as a result of a unique partnership between The Dowse Art Museum and Chamber Music New Zealand. The tour will also include free afternoon performances for intermediate and high school ākonga (students) in all four centres.
DATES & LOCATIONS
WEDNESDAY 15 MAY: 7.30pm Lawson Field Theatre, Gisborne
FRIDAY 17 MAY: 7.30pm Toitoi: Hawke’s Bay Arts & Events Centre, Hastings
WEDNESDAY 29 MAY: 7.30pm ONEONESIX, Whangārei
FRIDAY 31 MAY: 7.30pm Te Puke Intermediate School, Te Puke
