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National | Matariki Awards

Stage, screen and street – three Māori creatives vie for Matariki arts award

The Te Waipuna-ā-Rangi Award recognises those individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to development of the arts and entertainment in Aotearoa.

This year’s finalists are kapa haka exponent Tangiwai Margaret Ria, director Taika Waititi and visual artist Graham Hoete.

Tangiwai Margaret Ria (Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki) is recognised nationally for her involvement with kapa haka and is a life member of the national Māori performing arts festival, Te Matatini.  She had led kapa haka group Waihīrere to three national victories in 1988, 1998 and 2002.

Ria was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Māori performing arts and the community in 2016 after more than three decades involvement with Waihīrere.

She has led groups comprising performers from around New Zealand to international showcases at the World Expo in 1992, Royal Albert Hall in London, Commonwealth Games at Kuala Lumpur and the Pacific Arts Festival in Palau in 2004.

Ria hails from Parihimanihi Marae where she says her people are “my heart and soul”. Since moving back home in 1978, she has worked hard to give everything for her whānau, hapū and iwi.

She mentors the Eco-Warriors – a group of Māori youth from Waihīrere – engaging in the environmental preservation and restoration of the Waihīrere Domain.

Tangiwai Ria has been a trustee of Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki Trust for 10 years which leads the Treaty of Waitangi claims process for the iwi. She is also a trustee of Te Rūnanga o Tūranganui-a-Kiwa – an organisation that represents the three iwi of the Gisborne area.

In a tribute on Facebook, Māori media personality Matai Smith says, “Thank you Aunty for helping to shape the lives of so many via Māori performing arts over the years and for continually pushing us as performers to strive for nothing but par excellence.

“[I] am absolutely elated to see that you are finally being recognised for the many tireless hours you have given to kapa haka and indeed the Tairāwhiti community over the years.”

Already named New Zealander of the Year for 2017, director Taika Waititi (Te Whānau-ā-Apanui) is a well-known figure in the arts.

His runaway 2016 hit, Hunt for the Wilderpeople has become New Zealand's most successful film ever, breaking national box office records and becoming the highest grossing Kiwi film in history.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople took out seven categories at the 2017 New Zealand Film Awards including Best Film and Best Actor.

Waititi, the son of a schoolteacher and an artist, hails from Raukokore on the East Coast and attended Onslow College in Wellington.

Taika graduated from Victoria University in 1996 with a degree in theatre and film.  After a string of film and television credits he came to international attention in 2003 with his short film, Two Cars, One Night, which was nominated for an Academy Award in 2005.

In 2007, he went on to make Eagle Vs Shark and then in 2010, the box office phenomenon, Boy.

Waititi participated in the 2015 Cure Kids charity single – raising funds for research into cures and treatments for conditions affecting children – and has shown support to charities fighting child poverty. He is helping raise awareness of the lack of Māori and Pacific Island bone marrow donors including registering himself as a donor.

Waititi's latest offering, Thor: Ragnarok, is sure to further cement his place among the world's top feature film makers.

Graham Hoete (Ngaiterangi, Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāti Awa) is a visual artist who is known for his stunning mural work.

Last year, Hoete painted a widely praised Prince memorial mural in the United States as well as a mural of top Kiwi NBA basketballer Stephen Adams.

“I felt inspired to honour Prince by crafting a massive wall mural in Sydney,” says Hoete

After the image went viral, he travelled to Minnesota and painted another eight-metre mural on a wall in Prince's hometown of Chanhassen- which was formally unveiled by the city's mayor.

“It’s funny aye? I’m a Māori from Mōtītī Island in the Bay of Plenty and to see myself on the news in the US was pretty interesting to say the least.”

On the day of the unveiling of that piece, Prince’s brother invited him to the superstar’s memorial. Graham flew over a month later to attend it.

Graham Hoete’s mother hails from Matakana Island – where he’s already painted three murals – and his father is from Mōtītī Island.

“This whole thing with murals in my life, it’s an adventure – I just love it. I honestly feel like a little kid with crayons when I’m painting. It’s a specialised skill set,” says Hoete.

Hoete holds talks and workshops for young people, stressing the importance of discovering and developing talents regardless of how and where they have learned.

His most recent project is called 100 Portraits and features everyday Kiwis in rural New Zealand.