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12 Feb 2025

Creativity in Community

Did you hear the news?

Auahatanga ki te Kāinga launched throughout the 21st to 24th of January in Kirikiriroa with a series of joyful community open days complete with kai, music and the creative guidance of local artists.

From Tuesday to Friday, community houses in Melville, Glenview, and Fairfield filled with whānau getting stuck-in. On offer were a range of fun activities including circus, spray-painting, drawing, creative pizza making, whare tapere and colouring-in. Highlights included the candy floss and snow cones, as well as waiata from the Fairfield’s kaumātua ukulele group Karapitanga Kaumatua and local youth choir, Manu Mātātahi.

Whānau celebrated the feeling of belonging in the community houses, their pride in their neighbourhoods, and the joy of being creative and trying something new.

These open days were an opportunity to get a taster of the weekly workshops which are currently on offer at Te Whare Kokonga, Glenview Community Centre, Te Whanau Putahi and Te Whare o te Ata.

These workshops are running for the next six months and will be accompanied by community whānau days and the opportunity for exhibition. All of this, under the manaakitanga and expertise of our professional artists:

Introducing…

Leafa Wilson (who also goes by the names Janice and Olga) was curator of art at Te Whare Taonga o Waikato Museum and Gallery for 17 years. She has previously worked with Creative Waikato as our South Waikato Cultural Activator, in another pilot programme that saw her whipping up art hurricanes in Tīrau, Putāruru, and Tokoroa. Leafa also led Whiria te Tāngata, a multi-community artist in residence pilot. This project enabled artists to practice and develop work with and through their communities.
Leafa is now pulling on all her experience to lead Auahatanga ki te Kāinga, supporting Ahsin and Whetu in their mahi.

Ahsin Ahsin is an artist based in Kirikiriroa (Hamilton), Aotearoa New Zealand – from Aitutaki and Aitu in The Cook Islands. He has exhibited extensively throughout Aotearoa, as well as Belgium, India, and Melbourne and has an impressive portfolio of commissioned works.

Whetu-Iti Doreen Silver (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Pakahi, Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa) is Toi Rongoā Māori practitioner and māmā who comes from a strong matriarchal lineage. She has worked extensively in the Aotearoa, New Zealand performing arts industry over the last 20 years as creative collaborator, maker & performer, director & playwright, activist.

Workshops are now running, and you are invited! Bring the tamariki in your life and connect with creativity in your neighbourhood.

HAMILTON SOUTH

FAIRFIELD

We’d like to celebrate and thank our collaborators who made this week happen: from set up to pack down, and all the behind-the-scenes mahi that makes something like this happen:
The teams and volunteers at the community houses:

And the funder for this kaupapa: WEL Energy Trust