Event
‘Epetoma o te reo Māori Kūki ‘Airani
Sun 3–Sat 9 Aug 2025
Celebrate Cook Islands Language Week at Pātaka
Celebrate Cook Islands Language Week at Pātaka
Introducing Tui Hobson, Pātaka’s artist in focus for Kūki Airani week, and this year's winner of the Creative New Zealand Pacific Aniva Artist Residency Award. Tui has links to Rarotonga through her mother and grandmother, well-known designers and makers of tīvaevae, and her aunt, master tīvaevae artist and author Lynnsay Rokokea. Tui herself is a master in carving. A sculptor with over 30 years of experience, Tui has produced works in over 75 solo and group shows, symposia, private commissions, and large public exhibits. She uses recycled native wood, stone, cast glass, and, most recently, bronze as a medium to express her Cook Island heritage. Celebrating the feminine form, themes of migration and navigation permeate.
Read more about Tui here.
Tui’s residency will be launched at the Porirua City Council Mayoral-hosted flag raising ceremony at Pātaka. Meet the artist and view a collection of her smaller works that will be available for sale in the Toi Store.
Join members of the Porirua-based Enuamanu-Ātiu Nui Maruarua Society Inc. for Pure prayer, Imene Tuki sacred songs, and ‘Ingo Ātiu dance accompanied by a pulsating drum ensemble. Ātiu, also known as ‘Enuamanu (meaning land of the birds), is an island of the Cook Islands archipelago, lying in the central-Southern Moana.
Meitaki maata to Mama Teuru Tia Kekena for organizing this day for us, for connecting us to this beautiful offering of the Ātiu community, and for welcoming Tui Hobson to Porirua.
The 2025 theme for Cook Islands Māori Language Week is 'Ātui'tui’ia au ki te raurau a tōku matakeinanga – “Connect me to the offerings of my people.”
Te Ātua te Aro’a
Photo: Tui Hobson
Photo: Mama Teuru Tia Kekena
Above: Porirua-based, Enuamanu-Ātiu Nui Maruarua Society Inc.
