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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

BY LETTING SPACE & URBAN DREAM BROKERAGE

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'Rongo-marae-roa-a-rangi: He moemoeā'

ACKNOWLEDGING MANA WHENUA

TE ATIAWA

TARANAKI WHĀNUI KI TE UPOKO I TE IKA

NGĀTI TOA RANGATIRA 

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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Tea house proceeds go to the Future Forests Fund

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

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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)

https://www.pmlydon.com/about/

 

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

https://finalstraw.org/en/the-documentary/

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.

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READ 'THE POSSIBLE CITY' WRITTEN BY PATRICK M. LYDON

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(27.11.21)

Opening
Forest Rongoā Teahouse
 

Upcoming Events

  • CBD Community Rongoa Forest Planting
    CBD Community Rongoa Forest Planting
    Time is TBD
    Location is TBD
    Time is TBD
    Location is TBD
    Join 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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A fine art high-quality print edition of 100 is available to order. If you would like more details please click the pre-order button below and fill out the contact details form.

Proceeds from sales will go towards the Forest Rongoā Fund to help with our Future Forest research. 

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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). 

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"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" 

- Artist Charles Buenconsejo 

'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. 

 

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Please support our
Future
Forests
Fund

Dreaming pathways towards net+ interaction with Te Taiao the natural world from an indigenous perspective.

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