Waitara artists are building a national platform for their work around the long-standing annual event to celebrate the life of Sir Māui Pōmare (1875/1876 -- 1930), with some help from the NPDC Creative Communities fund.

This year saw the 88th annual Māui Pōmare Weekend commemorations based at Waitara’s Ōwae Marae and the Waitara Artists Co-op (WAC) setting the stage for a national focus on the town’s arts.

The Māui Pōmare Weekend commemorations, held on the weekend closest to the anniversary of the politician’s death on 27 June, were a celebration of Māori achievement and endeavour and families and guests travelled from throughout New Zealand to attend.

The year the exhibition featured 100 artworks by 30 artists including those studying in Wellington or Auckland who brought back their work to be seen by relatives and friends, said WAC organiser Garry Nicholas.

“This is a Kaupapa Māori-driven event to invigorate the profile of visual artists in the district. Waitara has a lot of energy and talent, and we want to build that up through confidence and unity with other arts groups in Waitara and including their diverse works in the show, as well as aligning with other artist collectives around Taranaki to maximise the medium and long-term art strategy for identifying, nurturing and promoting the artists of Taranaki.”

The Waitara Artists Co-op, which is supported by the Ngāti Rāhiri Trust and Te Kotahitanga o Te Atiawa, received $2,500 from the Creative Communities fund for the event.

Creative Communities funding is open to applications from 28 July to 25 August. Find out more at npdc.govt.nz/CreativeCommunitiesScheme.

FAST FACTS

• The Creative Communities Scheme is a partnership between the government’s Creative New Zealand arts agency and councils to promote community involvement, diversity and young people participating in the arts.
• Each year the NPDC Creative Communities Scheme distributes around $50,000 on behalf of Creative New Zealand to local artists and arts groups.
• Artists and arts groups can apply for up to $2,500 each round, but larger amounts can be granted for major projects.
• Last year the scheme helped 40 artists and arts groups.

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