Two free community wānanga are being hosted by Unitec at Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae over the next week.
Composer and artist Jerome Kavanagh Poutama ( Ngāti Maniapoto – Ngāti Matakore, Mōkai Pātea, Kahungunū, Ngāti Rangi) who was a featured artist and lyricist on Christopher Tin’s Grammy Award-winning album ‘Calling All Dawns’ in 2011 will lead a taonga puoro (traditional Māori music instrument) workshop alongside partner Ruiha Turner (Kahungunu, Pāhauwera).
While Auckland-based audio-visual ringatoi (artist), Rachel Shearer (Rongowhakaata, Te Aitanga a Māhaki iwi) is leading ‘A Sonic Mihi to the Puna’ – a participatory sound and performance event.
Both wānanga are part of an indigenous-led public engagement and placemaking initiative called Ihirangaranga, which integrates nature/forest bathing and sonic arts in Tāmaki Makaurau.
The initiative is a direct response to the pressures of rapid urban development taking place around the former grounds of Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka.
“While it presents opportunities, this growth also threatens sacred sites like Te Wai Unuroa o Wairaka and Te Rangimarie Pā Harakeke and disrupts ecological and human well-being,” says Associate Professor, Leon Tan.
“These wānanga invite participants to reconnect with ancestral sound vibrations—ihirangaranga—as a means of cultivating individual and collective wellbeing, offering pathways to restoring balance, resilience, and connection at a time of rapid urban change in Ōwairaka.”
Ihirangaranga is an initiative of the Creativity and Culture Research Group in the School of Creative Industries. Unitec kaimahi Becca Wood, Peeti Lamwilai, Hinewaimarama Reihana White and Hohepa Renata have supported this project and Kaunuku Studio has assisted with the curation of this Project.
Funding and commissioning for this project came from the Albert-Eden Local Board and Unitec’s Research and Enterprise Office for funding and administration.
Kaimahi are invited to join these free wānanga to reconnect with sound vibrations—ihirangaranga—as a means of cultivating individual and collective wellbeing.
Guest practitioners will support participants in attuning to the spiritual and ecological flows of the land, including wahi tapu, Te Wai Unuroa o Wairaka and Te Rangimarie Pa Harakeke.
Wānanga 1: A Sonic Mihi to the Puna
This wānanga led by Rachel Shearer is a participatory sound and performance event centred on deep listening and a collaborative sonic response to Te Wai Unuroa o Wairaka, the aquifer-fed stream that runs across the marae domain.
Date: Saturday 31 May, 2025
Time: 1-4pm (light refreshments at 3pm)
Venue: Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae (Wharenui)
Open to the public
Wānanga 2: ORO ATUA Wānanga Rongoa Puoro
This wānanga is led by Grammy award-winning Taonga Puoro Māori practitioner/composer/Artist, Jerome Kavanagh Poutama and Ruiha Turner, is a customised two-part taonga puoro-based workshop based on the sound experience and Ukutangi making and playing for whanau from the Kaitiaki ropu who look after and care for the spiritual and physical wellbeing of the whenua at Te Noho Kotahitanga marae, as well as ākonga, kaiako and mana whenua ringatoi (Ngāti Whatua Ōrakei) who are connected to this place.
Date: Monday, 9 June, 2025
Powhiri: 10:30am
Time: 11am-2:30pm
Venue: Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae, Unitec
Capacity Limited. Register here
