New Zealand eyes stars for Matariki festival
14 Jun 2010
Matariki Festivities - nationwide
14 June - 18 July 2010
With the Matariki constellation rising in the eastern sky this morning (14.06.2010), Kiwis throughout New Zealand have begun the annual observation of Matariki - the Māori New Year celebration.
Matariki - a unique cultural festival dictated by the arrival of the Pleiades star formation - will be celebrated during the next four weeks with many and varied high-profile and family-style events that bring families and communities together to celebrate new beginnings.
Public and private events include everything from family feasts, to kite-making workshops, films, art exhibitions and night sky star-gazing events - all celebrating New Zealand’s Māori heritage, nature, creativity and expression.
To mark the occasion, Auckland’s Sky Tower will light up the night sky from tonight until 14 July - with red and blue lights symbolising Matariki.
Following last year’s major success, one of the 2010 key events will be the Matariki Gourmet Hangi at Turangawaewae Marae in the Waikato town of Ngaruawahia - hosted by popular Kiwi celebrity chef Peter Gordon.
Gourmet hangi and concert
The gourmet hangi and concert will be held on 27 June at the marae - headquarters of the Māori King Movement and official residence of Tukeitia Paki, the reigning Māori King.
Peter Gordon says he’ll be preparing the hangi for about 700 people and money raised will go to the Raukatarui Music Therapy Centre. The centre was founded by singer and songwriter Hinewehi Mohi whose daughter suffers from cerebral palsy.
"I'll be cooking alongside the fantastic and friendly Turangawaewae marae cooks and hangi masters, as well as some of my friends and chefs from ‘dine’. There will be a brilliant Māori welcome and performances, alongside music from some of New Zealand's top entertainers," Gordon said.
So far the Kiwi celebrity line up includes Hollie Smith, Don McGlashan and Hinewehi Mohi.
Traditional hangi
While the menu hasn’t yet been revealed, Gordon is likely to add a twist to the usual hangi fare.
Last year his fusion approach using local ingredients and Asian spices won over traditionalists who agreed it was a clever treatment of the simpler style of hangi where meat and vegetables are cooked with super-heated rocks in a pit oven.
Matariki is originally a family festival with an emphasis on food and hospitality. Throughout New Zealand hangi will be put down in back-yards, marae and community centres.
The New Year celebrations fall at the end of harvest when food is plentiful and tradition states it is a time to share the gifts provided by the land and the sea.
As well as gathering together to share kai or food, families are also encouraged to mark Matariki with new life by planting native shrubs and plants.
Te Papa, Wellington
New Zealand’s national museum - Te Papa is developing a full Matariki events programme that will run for 18 days from 10 - 27 June (Tāite 10 Pipiri - Rātapu 27 Pipiri).
The 2010 theme is ‘Waka - the journeying and coming together of people’.
For thousands of years, guided by the stars, waka of Māori canoes transported people all over the Pacific Ocean and to New Zealand, and Te Papa is planning to highlight a "journey of discovery" for Matariki.
Carter Observatory, Wellington
The newly refurbished Carter Observatory in Wellington is organising a variety of Matariki-themed activities, including a public observation of the constellation from the top of Wellington’s Mt Victoria early on 14 June.
With its powerful telescopes and new planetarium, the Observatory will be the best place to view the Pleiades constellation, which appears before dawn on the north-eastern horizon around the end of May. The 2010 appearance is from 14 June to 18 July.
Carter Observatory’s Matariki programme will include an exhibition of emerging Māori artists, Matariki-themed shows in the Pelorus Trust Planetarium, children's competitions, a family fun day, and a public programme on 14 June.
Stonehenge Aotearoa, Wairarapa
Matariki will also be celebrated at Stonehenge Aotearoa in the Wairarapa countryside near Wellington - a good place to star gaze and explore how ancient cultures like New Zealand Māori used the sun, moon and stars for life and survival.
Built on the same scale as the original Stonehenge in England, the centre is a modern interpretation of the ancient astronomical stone structures and an open-sky observatory that tells stories of the mysteries of space and time.
The stones, which form a Polynesian star compass, are used to teach maramataka - the calendars of time and seasons - and Māori star navigation.
Seven stones sculptured to represent female figures are grouped together in the form of a koru - which symbolises new life. The Seven Sisters represent the Pleiades or Matariki star cluster.
Hawke's Bay region
In Hawke's Bay, Matariki is especially important to the Ngati Kahungunu people - New Zealand’s third largest iwi and the second largest tribal region which stretches from the Wharerata ranges in the Wairoa district to Cape Palliser in South Wairarapa.
This tribal region is credited with instigating the revival of modern-day Matariki celebrations, and is calling Matariki 2010 ‘ A New Decade of Celebration’.
On 6 June, the Waka Ama Sprint Contest will be held at Farndon Park, Clive where rowers will brave a minus 2degC wind chill factor to compete in the annual river race.
On 11 June, the Pahiatua Matariki family night promises large crowds and a full evening of entertainment with a fireworks finale - the only one of its kind in the area all year.
Special community events with entertainment and fireworks will also be held in Waipukurau, Flaxmere, Carteron, Wairoa and in Taradale, Hawke’s Bay will play Taranaki in a special Matariki basketball event on 11 June.
NZ On Screen celebrates Matariki
To celebrate Matariki 2010, the NZ On Screen website has an online selection of film and video material celebrating te ao Māori - the Māori world.
Veteran Māori broadcaster Whai Ngata selected the list that includes profiles, music, drama, historic footage and documentaries made by some of New Zealand’s leading film and television stars.
Matariki - the film
A New Zealand film due for release later this year is also based on Matariki.
Produced by Fiona Copland and directed by Michael Bennett (of TV’s Outrageous Fortune), Matariki is a feature film that has five inter-weaving stories set in the days leading up to the rising of Matariki. It is set in South Auckland.
The film is the feature debut for Kiwi actors Susana Tang and Jason Wu, and was funded by the New Zealand Film Commission.
More information
Matariki explained
Matariki food
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