As a collective, Kauae Raro are dedicated to researching and sharing their mahi looking at whenua as an art material, a component of ceremony, for personal adornment and as rongoā.

This wānanga will bring whānau together in the keen focus of learning on the retention and promotion of mātauranga Māori around this beautiful resource at our feet - a taonga to which we belong to as tangata whenua.

“We share this mātauranga to fill gaps in our collective knowledge and encourage reconnection. As Māori, we already face so much gatekeeping- systematically, academically, culturally and actual physical locked gates that keep us from our ancestral lands. Kauae Raro Research Collective do not wish to play a part in the violence of gatekeeping, our focus is to model our reciprocal, responsible practice of relating to the land in the hopes that others find their own way of enacting kaitiakitanga too.”

Learn how to identify soil, clay and rocks in te taiao to use as art materials. In pre-colonial times, tþpuna Màori made paint with earth pigments for creative expression, in ceremony and as rongoà. Drawing on màtauranga shared with Kauae Raro Research Collective, participants will learn how to make sustainable, natural water-colour paint with whenua, tree gum and water.

*If you already use whenua in your art practice, or have some colourful whenua in your back yard, bring a handful to make into paint!

Image: Toroa Creative (2021)

Priority for Takatāpui and QTBIPOC