
PŌNEKE CBD
Rongoā Māori – acknowledging the wairua of the inner city. Mapping the inner city with the mātauranga Māori concepts māramatanga, kaitiakitanga and manākitanga.
It asks how we protect and enhance the Mauri, the life force within urban environments, and suggests that when we look to regeneration we must first go back to the source, what was here before, and what has happened since.
Ruka will explore how we communicate with the wai and awa below and what is the wairua of the land being shared with us.
The project will also explore how we introduce biodiverse ecosystems into this place of concrete.
How do we plant the seeds?
Korero (discussion) will be located in a temporary Forest Rongoā Teahouse.
THIS PROJECT IS SUPPORTED
Forest Rongoā Teahouse
The teahouse is now closed.. a big thank you to everyone who visited us!
We gathered, shared & connected...
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106 Courtenay Place, Te Aro, Wellington City | Reading Cinema Complex.
Pre - Opening Day Saturday 27th November 10am - 1pm
Rongoā teas available/ We look to the Future with Progressive Ideals/ Films start 11am - 1pm
1st Week:
1/12 Wed 10am - 1pm Rongoā teas available/ We look to the Future with Progressive Ideals/ Films start 11am - 1pm
2/ 12 Thur 10am - 1pm Rongoā teas available/ We look to the Future with Progressive Ideals/ Films start 11am - 1pm
3/12 Friday 10am - 1pm Rongoā teas available/ We look to the Future with Progressive Ideals/ Films start 11am - 1pm
4/12 Saturday 10am - 1pm Experience Day with Angela Kilford (Curator):
11am Weaving Harakeke Seedling protectors
1pm Rongoā walk - foraging local rongoā
2nd Week:
8/12 Wed 10am - 1pm Rongoā teas available/ We look to the Future with Progressive Ideals/ Films start 11am - 1pm
9/12 Thur 10am - 1pm Rongoā teas available/ We look to the Future with Progressive Ideals/ Films start 11am - 1pm
10/12 Fri 10am - 1pm Rongoā teas available/ We look to the Future with Progressive Ideals/ Films start 11am - 1pm
11/12 Saturday 10am - 1pm Closing Day Hākari Feast collaboration with Seeds to Feeds.
GOOD MAGAZINE: 'Rongo-marae-roa-a-rangi: He moemoeā shared within The Forest Rongoā Teahouse' (NOV 9, 2021)
WE LOOK TO THE FUTURE WITH PROGRESSIVE IDEALS

FEATURED ARTISTS
Poppy Lekner @poppylekner
Sam Gorham @gorhamsam
Sara Orme @saraormephotographer
Deme Te Atawhai Scott @de.teatawhai.scott
Tanya Te Miringa Te Rorarangi Ruka @fog_moon_studio
Becky Nunes @beckynunes_nz
Sage Rossie @mouldyjuice
Anjuli Selvadurai @bbygrl_anj
The Forest Rongoā Teahouse is honoured to welcome the artists of 'We Look to the Future with Progressive Ideals'.
This is the first time all 8 works can be seen together.
We look to the future with progressive ideals was a six month series of works by eight photographic artists curated by Virginia Woods-Jack of Women In Photography NZ & AU.
“When thinking through this project , which artists to invite, and my hopes for a real world window into an ongoing online project, I spent time sitting looking at the lightbox on the side of Thistle Hall as well as looking through the Women in Photography NZ & AU feed based on Instagram.
For those of you who know the building and the wall the Lightbox sits on there is, a quote taken from a letter from hall management to City Engineer dated 2nd August 1927 where they state ‘We are looking to the future with progressive ideals’. 94 years later this gave me the words that weave through many of the themes of the 88 artists who have shared their work to date. Of this 88 I have chosen 8 artists from Aotearoa, 1 now resident in England, whose work resonates with a future I want to be a part of founded on more progressive ideals. Ideals and ideas of connection and reconnection to whenua and self, acceptance, decolonisation, acknowledging the layers of history, our present and how everything we do now informs our future.
The work of 8 artists - a singular image. Each image is a glimpse into the artists practice and the wider community of WIP NZ & AU - a platform highlighting female/identifying and non-binary creators working in photo based arts in NZ & AU. Engage. Connect and Debate. An invitation for you to explore further.”
TEAHOUSE FILMS
The Teahouse is honoured to include the film works of artist Patrick M. Lydon & Suhee Kang.
11am - Tree Mediations (20 mins)
Artist: Patrick M. Lydon (South Korea)
Tree Meditations
Patrick M. Lydon
The voice of humans and in nature interact in a series of films that moves both visually and musically as a progression, a subtle story of interconnected scenes. This film is part of a larger series of meditations, comprising moving-image scenes, sound, and instrumental music, filmed primarily during the artist’s several years of life as a pilgrim in East Asia. Each film takes place during the artist’s meditation in a public space. The soundtrack is created in collaboration with Korean traditional instrumentalist, Bomnunbyeol (봄눈별).
11.30am - The Final Straw Documentary (74 mins)
Directors: Patrick M. Lydon & Suhee Kang
Final Straw: Food, Earth, Happiness
Patrick M. Lydon & Suhee Kang
Inspired by the works of Masanobu Fukuoka, author of the seminal environmental book The One Straw Revolution, the film weaves together meditative landscapes, an eclectic original soundtrack, and inspiring stories from some of the world’s foremost figures in the natural farming movement. Together they give modern-day relevance to age-old ideas, on a journey through Japan, Korea, and the United States that turns our perceptions of food and life upside down in a simple and poetic way.

READ 'THE POSSIBLE CITY' WRITTEN BY PATRICK M. LYDON
Upcoming Events
- Time is TBDLocation is TBDTime is TBDLocation is TBDJoin us to acknowledge the living systems below the streets. We will be planting rongoa beneficial native trees and plants in the CBD. We will work with the root systems of the plants to communicate to the whenua and awa below.
2ND GENERATION
DIGITAL WEAVINGS
Tikanga Māori (correct procedure)
At the beginning of the project I acknowledged and asked permission from the natural world
These digital weavings were created using HD video footage documenting my korero with the surrounding Maunga (mountains), Awa (river), and Ngahere (forests) of Pōneke.
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MĀRAMATANGA - ENLIGHTENMENT.
MANĀKITANGA - RESPECT
Manākitanga is Tangi te Keo Maunga - earth element.
Māramatanga is Waitangi Awa - water element.
KAITIAKITANGA - GUARDIANSHIP
Kaitiakitanga is Waimāpihi Ngahere - plant/ tree element.
KARAKIA | WAITANGI AWA
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Waitaha Executive Grandmothers Council karakia asking the Atua for forgiveness and apologising to Waitangi awa. Acknowledging the rivers that have been blocked and channelled beneath the city surface into pipelines and diverted from their natural course.
Film stills - the film of this karakia has been digitally woven into the image representing Māramatanga enlightenment (above).


"Together with our whānau from @positivescreenprinting, we're offering 20 limited edition "Free Mother Nature" t-shirts for 50 dollars each (including shipping cost).
Proceeds will help us support the Community Rongoā Forest project of @region_net_positive in Pōneke, which aims to regenerate native forests
and heal Papatuanuku.
The t-shirts are available in small, medium, large and extra-large sizes and white or yellow colours.
Please DM us if you want to support a local business and be in solidarity with liberating Mother Nature.
“We are all enslaved, human beings and all the other beings, plants, trees, bees and bacteria. Everything in nature is enslaved, therefore we are all enslaved, and the only way to free ourselves is to free mother nature.” - Rita Valencia
Artwork by @avggs
Photo by @fog_moon_studio"
'Free Mother Nature'
Our whanau @openhomesnz Artist Charles Buenconsejo and Grace Bariso Buenconsejo have a limited edition (20) 'Free Mother Nature' t-shirt available to purchase all proceeds go to the Future Forests Fund.
