• TEDxChristchurch and TEDxYouth@Christchurch have partnered to host two events across 24-25 August at Christchurch Town
Hall.
• Milestone event to showcase 20 speakers and performers, as well as previ-ous TEDxChristchurch speaker alumni.
• Youth event will feature half day event with 12 speakers and performers.
• Organisers are working with Cultural Partner Matapopore on the special theme for this milestone event: Tūrangawaewae.
“Tūrangawaewae” means “stand-ing place” or “place of belonging.”
Christchurch, New Zealand—After two years of smaller, more intimate events, the TEDxChristchurch and TEDxYouth@Christchurch teams are gearing up
to bring not just one, but two days of ideas worth spreading to the Christchurch Town Hall.
On Saturday, 24 August, a special half-day youth event—curated and produced by youth, specifically for youth—will
feature 12 speakers and performers at the James Hay Theatre. The organising team, spearheaded by TEDxYouth@Christchurch
licensee and curator Hannah Hudson, also hosted the successful TEDxYouth@AvonRiver event in 2018.
On Sunday, 25 August, the tenth edition of TEDxChristchurch will be a full-day event in the Douglas Lilburn Auditorium,
showcasing a lineup of 20 carefully curated speakers and performers to an audience of 1700.
Together with the wisdom of local mana whenua, the TEDxChristchurch and TEDxYouth@Christchurch organising teams are
exploring the events’ most inclusive theme ever, Tūrangawaewae: A place to stand.
“For nine years, we have opened every TEDxChristchurch with a mihi, delivered by mana whenua, to acknowledge and show
our respect to the traditional people of this land,” says TEDxChristchurch licensee and curator Kaila Colbin.
“Now, for our tenth edition of TEDxChristchurch, we are honoured to progress our journey towards bicultural practice, by
partnering with Matapopore to integrate tikanga Māori into the heart of our event.”
The word “tūrangawaewae” literally means standing place (tūranga), feet (waewae), and in the Māori worldview, is a
powerful concept relating to the sense of identity we gain from having a place we call home. For Ngāi Tūāhuriri,
tūrangawaewae is about whakapapa (kinship) and the importance of being able to connect to one’s ancestral land and sites
of cultural significance.
“Matapopore has broken new ground as a first for indigenous cultures, to significantly transform the way Ōtautahi
Christchurch has been rebuilt physically and ensure tradi-tional values are woven into its urban environment,” says
Matapopore Trustee says Mata-popore Trustee Lynne Harata-Te Aika. “Our partnership with TEDxChristchurch is a fur-ther
step to invite the community to experience the significance of these values and aspi-rations.”
“The TEDxChristchurch team puts a huge significance on the importance of storytelling and curating great content,
similar to our historical tradition of passing on knowledge oral-ly, from expert to learner, from adult to child. We
appreciate the work they are doing to help the greater community understand the importance of Tūrangawaewae and have
en-joyed working with them to develop the theme and design of their tenth event.”
Matapopore’s cultural advisers were engaged for the theme design of the event, with a customised tukutuku panel designed
by Kaitiaki Studios artist Morgan Mathews-Hale and approved by Matapopore included in the final theme branding.
“Tūrangawaewae is represented here as a contemporary version of a tukutuku panel, in-cluding the acknowledgement of Ngāi
Tūāhuriri as tangata whenua,” says Mathews-Hale.
“The design’s contemporary koru forms represent Ngā Tangata (our people) and the ara-moana (waves) representing the
various bodies of water that sustain our takiwā (region). There is a specific importance of wai (water) to Tūrangawaewae
in the sustainability of our outer world, our environment, and our inner world, wai and its mauri (life force),” she
explains.
“The purapura whetū (stars) above are a representation of that ‘inner’ sense of Tūrangawaewae and our individual
direction and aspirations. This particular whetū de-picts Matariki, our winter star, and is a direct reference to Ngāi
Tūāhuriri, alongside Maukatere (Mount Grey).”
Thanks to partners like Matapopore Charitable Trust, Strategy Creative, Computer Concepts Lim-ited, Davis Ogilvie,
Hamilton Jet, and Go Media, the tenth edition of TEDxChristchurch 2019 will be a spectacular example of what makes
Ōtautahi Christchurch so unique. Both
events will feature activations from HIT Lab NZ, interactive art installations, a pop-up bookstore from Scorpio Books,
and more. The TEDxChristchurch commitment to locally sourced, sustainable, delicious food is also as strong as ever,
with refreshments for both
events encompassing offerings from renowned local chefs Richard Till, Dan Shanks, and the Vbase team. Sunday’s event
lunch will showcase a special hāngi from local hāngi master Grenville Pitama. The catering, as well as free barista
coffee from Hummingbird coffee, is included in every ticket sale.
Tickets are available from www.tedxchristchurch.com, www.tedxyouthchristchurch.com, and Eventbrite.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/TEDxChristchurch
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TEDxChCh
Instagram: www.instagram.com/TEDxChristchurch
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/TEDxChCh