Source: Te Māori Manaaki Taonga Trust
Te Māori Manaaki Taonga Trust acknowledges the Government’s $10 million investment as a significant contribution towards advancing Māori artistic excellence, artists and Māori cultural leadership on the world stage.
Te Māori Trust Deputy Chair Ngātaiharuru Taepa says the investment provides support towards caring for the enduring mana and global future of taonga Māori.
“This investment recognises the mana, depth, and excellence of taonga Māori. It gives us the ability to take our taonga, our people and our mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) to the world with ambition, integrity, and purpose.”
The announcement comes as the legacy of Te Māori exhibition (1984-87), which opened at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, continues to shape the direction of Māori art and cultural leadership internationally.
Speaking at the 25th anniversary of Te Māori in 2009, Tā Hirini Moko Mead, who helped create the touring exhibition, reflected on its lasting influence.
“Te Māori was groundbreaking and transformative. It reshaped how we saw ourselves, influenced how museums operated both here and in the United States, and changed how we as Māori related to our taonga.”
Taepa says that legacy remains a powerful foundation for the Trust’s future direction.
“Te Māori shifted the world’s understanding of Taonga Māori-from curiosities of the past to being recognised as an important part of a living culture of artistic excellence. This investment will enable the Trust to build national and international partnerships, expand fellowship and exhibition opportunities, and ensure taonga Māori continues to be valued and celebrated.”
Last month, the Trust, in partnership with Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, launched a fellowship with the Pitt Rivers Museum at the University of Oxford, which holds significant collections of taonga Māori.
“Opportunities like Pitt Rivers place our people within some of the world’s most influential institutions. They allow Māori artists and curators to lead, to learn, and to bring our perspectives into global spaces of shared understanding,” Taepa says.
“Our focus is on caring for taonga as part of a thriving culture and creating space for new taonga to emerge. This is about honouring our past, elevating our taonga, and ensuring Māori art thrives for generations to come.”