Hawaiki Apōpz

Hawaiki Apōpz is a Māori millennial solution to the looming pakeha apocalypse. Inspired by our tamariki, early 2000’s apocalypse horror films and guided by the matakite and Afrofuturist writer Octavia Butler.

Hawaiki Apōpz asks our community to dream of a future filled with abundance, rest and recovery. It’s karanga invites us to be inquisitive about change, to live beyond colonisation. To imagine a reality where Māori whakaaro, kaitiakitanga and moemoea are at the forefront of the new world.

Ngaumutane Jones, Keita Newbery, Mara TK and Te Ikahoungata spent long hours in wānanga, dreaming of futures for tamariki across ngā motu. Ngaumu’s Wharerau Newanewa is a soft place to land, a slowly formed home for contemplation, karakia, rest and dreaminess. Through Keita’s photographs we are taken to her home at Te Umuroa marae, which is wrapped gently beneath the misty mink blanket of Ruataahuna, Te Manawa o Te Ika o Te Urewera. Mara’s sonic haerenga calls in the extraterrestrial, the ancestors and the moko’s to come together for the future.

Matariki is a time of reflection, renewal, and collective orientation towards what is to come. This wānanga feels especially attuned to the moment where the cosmos aligns.

Ngaumutane Jones

Ngaumutane Jones (Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Kahungunu, Tūhoe, Tainui) is a multidisciplinary ringatoi and the creative brain behind Umu Creative. Ngaumutane’s practice explores whakapapa, Te Taiao and pūrākau Māori through textiles, installation and graphic design. She is a recent recipient of the Paemanu Summer Art Residency, spending time at her Kāi Tahu marae, which has heavily influenced her work and strengthened her whakapapa connections within Te Waipounamu. In 2024 she exhibited Ngā Manawa in the Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival, where her interest in installation and public art grew. Her ability to weave together worlds of her millennial upbringing and pūrākau Māori is enchanting.

Keita Newbery

He kaitiaki taiao, he māmā, he kaiwhakaahua a Keita Newbery (Tūhoe, Ngāti Porou). Knowing a member of the Newbery whānau is like finding a long-lost cousin. She has a dark humour that only whānau could understand. Manaakitanga that makes you want to become a better person and an aroha that makes your bottom lip quiver. Keita has captured our people in the most ordinary yet extraordinary moments, carrying the roles and responsibilities laid upon us long before we were ready.

Mara TK

Mara TK (Rangitāne, Ngāti Kahungunu, Kāi Tahu, Tainui) is a writer, composer, sound artist and musician whose art evolves from a kaupapa Māori base. A longtime collaborator of Mara is Māori art curator Megan Tamati-Quennell (Te Atiawa, Ngāti Mūtunga, Ngai Tahu, Kāti Mamoe and Waitaha).Their projects together include: Hīnaki: Contemplation of a Form - Te Papa 2023 (tāonga/artefacts, sound, sculpture and archival photos). Ngā Mata ō Hina with Daniel Boyd- Sharjah Art Biennial, UAE 2025 (site specific installation, paintings, sound composition), River to River, Mai i te Awa ki te Moana composed with Rana Hamida and Reem Sawan and exhibited with Raven Chacon-Sharjah Art Biennial, UAE 2025 (sound composition,photography). Mara’s work in Hawaiki Apōpz channels the outer workings of the universe.

Te Ikahoungata

Te Ikahoungata (Rangitāne, Ngāi Tara, Ngāti Ira) is a disabled wahine Māori, curator, graphic designer, māmā and community member. Since her relocation to Te Ika a Maui, Te Ikahoungata has reimagined her relationship with Te Ao Māori. Living on Ngāti Raukawa whenua in Ōtaki allows Te Ikahoungata and her partner to prioritise rest and relationship with both Te Taiao and humanity. Te Ikahoungata is interested in opening portals with kai as rongoa, moving slowly with Hina, and swimming in the Ōtaki awa with kuri and chosen whānau.

Downloads

The exhibition text written and poster designed by Te Ikahoungata.

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