HOROMONA HORO
“When it comes to toi you have to love it and to truly love it you must be able to cry over it, laugh over it, get anxious about it.”
FEATURED: Horomona Horo - Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou
As Ngāpuhi we are everywhere, and as artists we are right here, right now.
Ko Hikurangi, ko Putahi ōku maunga
Ko Waiapu, ko Wairoro ōku awa
Ko Horouta, ko Mataatua ōku waka
Ko Porourangi, ko Rahiri ōku rangatira
Ko Ngati Porou, ko Ngāpuhi ōku iwi
Ko Uepohatu, ko Te Uri o Hua ōku hapū
Ko Ruataupare, ko Kohewhata ōku marae
Horomona is a master of teleportation. An expert at transcending the realms of te whare tapere, te whare karioi, ngā mahi o Taonga pūoro and ngā mahi rongoa, he is able to connect us all within the present moment. As a cheeky uri nō Ngāpuhi he is everywhere, and wherever he is, so too is his silver briefcase full of Māori magic, ready to open new portals and teleport us to places we once thought not possible. A composer, storyteller, musician and much more, Horomona is the essence of what it means to live as a creative native in today's world, drawing on every place, connection, and experience that makes him uniquely him.
Currently based in Kirikiriroa with his whānau, Horomona has travelled around the world sharing his love and passion for Taonga pūoro and Te Ao Māori. From performances at home on his own marae to being the first Māori to ever perform at St Marco Square in Venice. He has taken his whānau across the world and brought the world back home with him. Through his teaching he offers up these opportunities to our taiohi, allowing them to experience their identities in ways that nourish and inspire them.
For Horomona, growing up in south Auckland during the 80s, without opportunities such as Kōhanga Reo, it was difficult to connect with his Māoritanga in these same nourishing ways. At this time colonisation had seeped into the minds and stories of our people, feeding us lies about who we are and what we have to offer the world. Despite not growing up with his reo Māori Horomona always had a love and passion for music, particularly hip-hop and reggae. He understood from an early age the power of music and as he describes, “its ability to express the callings of the time to a wider arena”. He recalls hearing his nan speaking te reo Māori with her friends and believing that the language was only for old people. Those who have the privilege to meet and listen to Horomona kōrero today find it hard to believe that he was not brought up immersed in te reo and te ao Māori.
Leaving home at fifteen years of age, Horomona set out to find his purpose in the world and was instead met with many challenges and distractions. Finding himself in dark places and calling out for things that alcohol and drugs could no longer subdue, Horomona sought refuge in the ngahere. He remembers on one particular occasion bargaining with Tāne-mahuta, prepared to give up something in exchange for signs of a pathway forward. A week later he was attending his first wānanga in Whirinaki. Looking back, Horomona can see that his tūpuna were always with him in those dark times and he believes we all have the power within us to break the chains of trauma, ‘because the toka is stronger’.
Horomona remembers playing his first kōauau, from a hāngī bone, on a walk in the ngahere with his nephew and nieces who would point and shout ‘look uncle that manu is dancing with you’. These signs and tohu would encourage him on his journey and lead him to new and old hononga that would add knowledge to his kete mātauranga. He remembers his first tauparapara, given to him by his koroua, and his first whakatauki, given to him by his uncle Wallace Wihongi that he finds himself continuously going back to and gaining new understandings of them to this day.
As Horomona’s Māoritanga strengthened, more doors began to open for him and his love for music found new depths in te ao Taonga pūoro. Inspired by the revitalisation mahi of the Haumanu collective, determined to meet his idols, Hirini Melbourne and Richard Nunns, Horomona entered a Māori instrumental contest in Rotorua. Alongside winning the contest, he formed a relationship with these mātanga taonga pūoro and became tied to the legacy that has seen the revitalisation of taonga pūoro in Aotearoa. Horomona went on to become a member of the Haumanu collective which continues this mahi today, dedicated to the revival, teaching, and sharing of these taonga throughout Aotearoa and the world.
Ngā mahi o Toanga pūoro enabled Horomona to understand that whatever he creates or brings into this world will reflect on him. Whatever mahi he undertakes he makes sure it is a process of love and a process of rangimarie. With every instrument comes its unique whakapapa, story and oro which he upholds and shares generously with those wanting to learn. Over the past few years, Horomona has been working with his whānau to obtain a kōiwi from his Uncle who has now passed. Whilst some people can be apprehensive and hesitant about this process, Horomona remains tūturu to his intent and hononga with his uncle, whānau and the tikanga. Not afraid to sit in discomfort, or at least brave enough despite feelings of manukanuka, Horomona finds purpose and meaning for his toi from both the light and dark times in his life. He explains further that “when it comes to toi you have to love it and to truly love it you must be able to cry over it, laugh over it, get anxious about it’.
As a descendent of one of the most hated Governor Generals, George Grey, and a descendent of one of the most notorious Ngāpuhi rangatira, Hongi Hika, Horomona does not shy away from our fraught history. Instead, he uses these sometimes painful realities as his drivers, to make positive change for his mokopuna and to pay homage to our ancestors in our time of living. He recalls the following kōrero from a Ngāpuhi kaumatua who said, “people hate to love Ngāpuhi and people love to hate Ngāpuhi because we are everywhere but there must be a reason why we are everywhere”. Horomona has met Ngāpuhi artists all around the world and believes that through the mahi of Toi Ngāpuhi they now have more reasons and opportunities to come home. For Horomona, the most important place he can be is in the moment. He reminds us that when you give yourself fully to the present moment, life becomes a gift.