02 Feb 2025

2024 saw many triumphs in the toi Māori space, with the Aronui Indigenous Arts Festival which saw Rotorua host kaitoi taketake from all over the world, and the Waka Hourua Festival once again celebrating 4,000 years of Pacific seafaring, wayfinding and navigation, and the continued revival of the art of waka hourua.
Toi Aotearoa continued to support kaitoi Māori through various funds, kaupapa and activities, including around 30 emerging artists through the Toi Tipu Toi Rea fund.
It was also thrilling to see Toi Māori represented on the world stage with events abroad, such as the Indigenous Gathering at ISPA Perth, the Indigenous Red Can Graffiti Jam in South Dakota, the Ganondagan Indigenous Music and Arts Festival in Victor, New York, the Venice Biennale, and the Festival of Pacific Arts (FestPAC) in Hawai'i. All these international events saw the sharing of toi and kōrero taketake, and enabled Toi Māori, kaupapa Māori, and whakairo Māori to be celebrated and appreciated by new eyes and minds.
.jpg?w=640&hash=229687262E3BB5A271DA6EFF6E3FB5FA)
Multi-disciplinary artist Apirana Taylor was awarded the 2024 Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement (Poetry). Apirana also launched his latest collection in the cracks of light, featuring seventy-three short poems to challenge our conceptions of poetic form and confirm his place once again as one of Aotearoa's most prolific and versatile writers.
We remember those we lost in 2024, including Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII – moe mai rā, e Rangi, te Kiingi o te Kotahitanga. Mahue mai ana tō tamāhine, a Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po ki te ārahi i ō iwi.
Already this year, we have celebrated the father of contemporary Māori sculpture, Fred Graham, who has been named a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (NZOM) in the 2025 New Zealand New Years Honours list – may you and your colossal works of art continue to fill the world with wonder and awe.
We are redesigning and renewing Te Hā o Ngā Toi, Creative New Zealand’s national strategy for Māori arts, which aims to strengthen the toi Māori sector and remove barriers to success as we continue to support kaitoi Māori to create and tell the stories that engage our eyes, inspire our minds, and captivate our hearts.
We look ahead to 2025 with excitement, with significant events such as Te Matatini o Te Kāhui Maunga in February and the gathering of the sector for Nui Te Kōrero around September as platforms to showcase, discuss, and inspire kaitoi Māori.
Kia huanui te ara whakamua
Kia mahea te hua mākihikihi
Kia toi te kupu, toi te mana, toi te aroha, toi te Reo Māori, toi te Toi Māori!
Wishing you all a happy new year!