13 May 2024
Since joining Tāwhiri Festivals & Experiences back in 2020, Director Ngā Toi Māori Mere Boynton has been instrumental in not only crafting the programme for Te Hui Ahurei Reo Māori, but also in showcasing and supporting Māori artists across all our Festival and events.
We look back on her time with the Tāwhiri whānau.
After 30 years of experience working in the arts and arts administration, Mere Boynton joined Tāwhiri in the role of Director Ngā Toi Māori in September 2020. Having spent a large amount of her adult life in Wellington, working for Taki Rua productions and at Te Papa, Mere brought a wealth of knowledge and connections in toi Māori and contemporary performing arts to her role.
Speaking about what it means to work in a cross-cultural context like Tāwhiri, Mere says “For me, it means making space, true space, in terms of shared resource and power between tangata tiriti and tangata whenua. Change takes time, and we haven’t been helped with the current status of the world... I’m really proud of Tāwhiri and where it’s come.”
Could you share some of your most memorable and rewarding experiences bringing to life work from project to reality?
"Oh, there’s so many. The first of which being the work with 2022 Festival Artist in Focus – Lisa Reihana. Scattered across the waterfront, Kura Moana was a series of works about the ocean, and the stories of the moana that connects us.
"Having known her for over 20 years, seeing this work come to life and witnessing the different iterations really showed Lisa’s amazing imagination, and highlighted her as one of our best visual artists here in Aotearoa.
"In particular, in Pursuit of Venus [infected], was a beautiful video work that stretched across an exhibition space at Te Papa; a reimagining of the coloniser and the indigenous people from Aboriginal, Cook Island, Hawaii and Māori points of view.
"The centre of the waterfront featured a giant inflatable octopus based on Te Wheke-a-Muturangi, the ancestral Taniwha who was chased by Kupe through the Pacific to Aotearoa. This piece highlighted Lisa’s imaginative nature, taking the ordinary and making it super-sized.
"Lisa also dressed the bronze statue outside the Wharewaka of Kupe (the first navigator), his tohunga (priest) and his wife – bringing the monument to life in traditional lei and ei katu, made in collaboration with local Pacific Island artists, while the waiata Aotearoa by Ngatai Huata, played from below... As Pacific Islanders and Māori, those artworks really embody our tūpuna.
"For me, Kura Moana was an important work which I’m proud to have supported and helped to manifest with Lisa. It really showed me the big engine room that Tāwhiri has, and the amazing skill set in terms of the technical production team and the excellence and execution of art with such a high level of attention to detail.
"Bringing Witi’s Wāhine back to Wellington for the 2024 Aotearoa NZ Festival of the Arts was also a really special moment and one that sat very close to my heart. Producing it for the Te Tairāwhiti inaugural Festival, and featuring as an actor in the original cast, supporting Nancy Brunning when she was unwell, made it an emotional rollercoaster.
"I’ve seen this work go through many changes and iterations, and it’s awesome that its life has continued and that it’s a much-loved legacy work... When we were performing it, there were very simple costumes, simple props, and it was just us being the characters in the raw.
"At the core of the piece is aroha – for our aunties, for our nannies, for our mothers, the feminine divine. Seeing it upscaled and transformed in the St James Theatre was really amazing. Bringing it back to Wellington, the heart of the creative space that Nancy Brunning grew up in was very important. For Tanea Heke of Hāpai Productions to bring it back for friends, whānau and the community here to see the work in all its beauty, power and magnificence was really moving. Many wāhine came out crying, it’s a special feeling to recognise ourselves in those characters.
"Leading Te Hui Ahurei Reo Māori in 2022 was a real proud moment. After not being able to stand up the entirety of the 2022 Festival, being invited by the Wellington City Council and mana whenua to create a festival that commemorated and celebrated the petition for Te Reo Māori which went to Parliament September 14, 1974, was very powerful. Pulling it together in just three months was a small team led by Sasha Gibb, Cushla Aston, Waitahi Aniwaniwa McGee, Shannon Brosnahan Inglis and Nathan Mudge, they made the magic happen - it was a very exciting time."
How did your own view on artistic expression change during your time here?
"Programming the Ngā Toi Māori and indigenous work required a vision and belief, and there’s no denying the works programmed stood strongly alongside the international pieces. It was relevant, unique, world class and it spoke to all of us as New Zealanders. There were risks that required deep thinking and careful consideration and at times there was even some disgruntlement from the community, but at the end of the day it required trust and confidence in their own artistic vision and the relationships and trust with the collaborators. It’s amazing what a bit of encouragement, aroha and belief can do."
What are you most looking forward to doing now with your time?
“Sleeping! I’m really looking forward to turning my brain off, switching off my devices and spending time with my son and whānau, before starting my next art project later in the year."
What will you miss the most from your time at Tāwhiri?
"The camaraderie of the team and the whānaungatanga. The people I’ve worked closely with like Sasha Gibb, Lauren Day and Cushla Aston. They have really supported me to hold space as an artistic director, and I wouldn’t have been able to do it without their support.
"I’ll miss the Leadership team and previous Leadership. Our former Executive Director Meg Williams and her opening the space for me to step into... As a result we’re welcoming in two Māori artistic directors and that’s the legacy that I think we have made space for. This will be huge for the artistic landscape of Aotearoa New Zealand and I think it’s going to be really exciting to see how this place evolves and shapes even more."
