Māoriland Hub
The Māoriland Hub is a centre of excellence for Māori Film and Creative Arts.
It is a home for the Indigenous, a home for the arts, a home for ideas and conversations – he whare taketake, he whare tapere, he whare kōrero.
Open year-round in Ōtaki Village, the Māoriland Hub showcases Indigenous creativity and innovation through film, visual, music and performing arts, technology, kōrero and more.
Toi Matarau Gallery is open to visitors Monday – Saturday, 11 am – 4 pm
All other visits are by appointment only
Contact [email protected]
Māoriland Hub
68 Main Street
Ōtaki
The dream of Māoriland has always been bigger than our resources but from the outset, we decided on the mantra “build it and they will come”.
In 2014, we started with a vintage caravan that we named the Piri Pod. It was our single billboard that we often dragged around town by hand, our festival ticket booth and occasional tearoom for our kuia and even accommodation as the world started to discover the Māoriland Film Festival.
We worked from our homes most of the time. In 2015, we squeezed into the cupboard-sized office next to The Civic Theatre and in 2016 we worked from the offices that are now home to our awesome accountants Temperton’s and Associates. But we needed more space so that we could also accommodate the Māori artists with taonga and clothing to sell to the MFF crowds.
We dreamed of how amazing it would be to buy Edhouses, the iconic department store that had closed in 2014 after 91 years in business leaving the largest building in Ōtaki empty. After agreeing on a deal with Don and Pat Edhouse we were able to move into the building in 2017 just one week before our 4th MFF. If you were there you might remember a sparse, open building. All of a sudden we had all the space we could want!
With the support of a Lotteries Grant and our community, we were able to purchase the building in late 2017 and the Māoriland Hub became a reality. Since then Māoriland has worked hard to create a space that enriches the community by offering events and workshops that inspire and up-skill rangatahi and their whānau.
As of March 2020, we’ve hosted over 220 events including film screenings, music, drama, community hui, art exhibitions, balls, and workshops on filmmaking and technology for school children. Upwards of 25,000 people have visited the Māoriland Hub including international and national visitors during the Māoriland Film Festival.
With the help of world-class Māori architects , Michelle Stott and Derek Kawiti the Māoriland Hub has undergone a two year refurbishment.
Kia ora rawa atu koutou ngā haumi e hāpai ana te Māoriland Hub
He Whare Tapere
He Whare Taketake
He Whare Kōrero
Arā kei te tihi o tōku Whare Tapere
Ko ia ko au ko te kaitiaki o te wā.
Ka puare mai ōna ringaringa amo
Kaha ki taha mauī; awhi ki taha matau.
Kia hou atu au mā Tatau Ki Te Po
Mā Tatau Ki Te Ao.
Tū takotako mai ai ki runga tūāpapa
Inā ko te reo, inā ko ngā tikanga
I kohaina mai ai e tuawhakarere.
Kei te kōpū o tōku Whare Taketake
Ko te oranga tonutanga
O ngā mana ka hui nei.
Ko tōna tāhuhu ko te iwi
Ko te poutāhu ko te mana o te kupu
Ko te poutuarongo ko te ira tangata
Kei waenga ko te poutokomanawa o te aroha noa.
Ko ngā pou koko ka titi iho ki te whenua ko ēnei:
Ko Ohooho, Ko Manaaki, Ko Koakoa, Kōtahitanga e
Kei ngā pātū o tōku Whare Kōrero
Ko te whakairinga o te kī
Ko te moko Māori i ataata ai
Te whakaaro nui te purapura pai
I whakatōkia ai e te hā o ngā tūpuna
E au tahi nei, e te hau o te wā …
House of the Imagination
House of the Indigenous
House of Conversation
At the summit of my House of the Imagination
Is myself as the guardian of the times.
The arms are outstretched
One arm strong; one arm embracing.
I enter unto the door of night
My portal to the world and of the light.
I stand strong upon a foundation
Of the language and traditions
Bequeathed us by the ancients.
In the belly of my House of the Indigenous
There is eternal wellbeing
For all who gather.
The ridgepole is the people
The front post is the authority of the word
The rear post is the essence of our humanity.
Between them we find the support pillar of love.
The posts that anchor the corners to the land are
Inspiration, respect, celebration and unity.
Upon the walls of my House of Stories
Hang the uttered words of the people
And images of who we are:
Ideas and seeds
Planted by the breath of ancestry
And by me, the breath of the moment …