A new exhibition of unique local stories opens this week at Te Whare Taonga o Waikato Museum and Gallery in Kirikiriroa Hamilton.

Titled “Ripples: Digital Stories from Waikato Te Ao Maaori Communities”, the exhibition has evolved from a storytelling project lead by He Koniahi Story Circle and their mentor, kaumatua Tom Roa.

Each with a personal perspective, the short-length digital films have been created to share maatauranga (rich cultural knowledge) and celebrate the diversity and strength of Waikato’s Maaori communities.

Liz Cotton, Director of Museum and Arts, said:

“It is an honour to collaborate with Waikato filmmakers and mana whenua to bring these puuraakau (stories) to a wider audience. The films featured in Ripples epitomise the power of personal storytelling to have universal resonance.”

He Koniahi Story Circle’s team of storytellers and filmmakers, Sasha McLaren, Fabrice Coquet and Leon Hemara, worked with local communities to help people to find their own voice and tell their stories in their own way. This empowering approach means that participants not only gained digital storytelling skills and enhanced their digital literacy, but also experienced the power of recording their koorero for future generations.

Funded by Manatū Taonga the Ministry for Culture & Heritage, the project included multiple workshops and facilitator training sessions, so that the mahi can continue on in communities. Organisations from across the Waikato region have been involved, from marae located in Maungatautari, Ootorohanga, and Pirongia, to The Red Shed, a creative art hub in Waitomo run by toi Maaori artist Daniel Ormsby, and the environmental group Te Karanga a te Pūtangi, led by Te Ao o te Rangi Apaapa and Maria Huata.

Professor Tom Roa, who affiliates to Ngaati Maniapoto, is a Waikato Tainui leader and Associate Professor in the University of Waikato's Faculty of Māori and Indigenous Studies, and has been vocal in his support of the storytelling project and subsequent exhibition:

”Without this waananga, I don't believe we would ever have got those stories. I've told our people here that we should do this again now that we know what it's like, we should bring in more of the whaanau.”

“[The stories are] going to be so rich and such a taonga for the future.”

Ripples: Digital Stories from Waikato Te Ao Maaori Communities is open to the public at Te Whare Taonga o Waikato Museum & Gallery from 11th April to 26th October 2025 and entry is free.

© Scoop Media