Te Ahukaramū Charles Royal
PŌ TUARUA | 7.45PM
MANAWA TOUTOU | HAKARI
Pou-Rewa: Building Mātauranga Māori Capability in Ngā Toi Māori Artists.
Te Ahukaramū Charles Royal.
Charles Royal will discuss a new project designed to build Mātauranga Māori capability in Ngā Toi Māori artists in three communities - Hokianga, Dunedin and Hauraki - that will take place over the next 18 months.
Funded by the Ministry of Culture and Heritage, the programme will make use of the arts and pursuits of the whare tapere as an example and vehicle for building Mātauranga Māori creative practice.
Charles will touch on key themes such as how to apply one’s research in creative ways and the relationship between the aspirations of the individual artist and that of his/her community. The overall intent of the programme is to find ways of innovating in Mātauranga Māori while aligning to one’s ancestors and traditions. This is the idea captured in the name ‘Pou-Rewa’ and the expression ‘He pou rewa nui, he takere ngoto roa’ - “the higher up the mast of innovation we wish to ascend, the deeper our keel needs to reach into the waters of our identity, history and pre-existing knowledge”.
PEPEHA
Te Ahukaramū Charles Royal is an independent researcher and consultant, and a freelance composer, musician and storyteller. He is passionate about the ‘creative potential’ of indigenous knowledge and communities which he explores through research, teaching and advising, and through music and story.
Charles has written/edited six books and ten reports on aspects of mātauranga Māori and iwi histories and traditions. He is also the founder and leader of whare tapere – iwi based ‘houses’ of storytelling, dance, games, music and other entertainments – which takes place in Hauraki. Previously he was a Director at Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand, Director of Graduate Studies and Research at Te Wānanga-o-Raukawa, Ōtaki, and Professor of Indigenous Development and Director, Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, University of Auckland. Charles belongs to Marutūahu, Ngāti Raukawa and Ngā Puhi.
