About
Connected to Te Hau Whakatonu, the whaiwhakaaro programme offers speakers and audience to have a storied participation in and exploration of the mātauranga Māori that exists within and between works. Gabrielle Belz and Ana Iti will choose artworks from Te Hau Whakatonu and activate threads of a narrative / kōrero between three works of their choosing.
Whaiwhakaaro literally means to follow the thought…to seek knowledge was to follow thought wherever it took you…whatever the immediate enlightenment might be…’
– Moana Jackson
Colleen Tuuta (Taranaki Tuturu, Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Mahuta, Ngāti Maniapoto) is part of the current generation of Taranaki negotiators who have worked to broker new futures for their iwi through the settlement of historical Treaty breaches and the development of Post Settlement Governance Entities in their wake. She is the Taranaki representative of five years on ‘Te Atamira Taiwhenua’ the Komiti Maori Advisory roopu for the Department of Internal Affairs. In December 2022 Colleen completed a three-year term on the WITT - Te Pukenga Board.
Jay Ruka is Dean of Taranaki Cathedral. He is also a storyteller, musician, and public communicator. Ruka has been involved with the church ministry for many years, and writes and speaks about indigenous worldview, New Zealand History, and the importance of cultural partnership. He is married to Erin and they live with their three children in Taranaki.