Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University College of Creative Arts Toi

Located in Wellington, New Zealand, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University College of Creative Arts Toi Rauwhārangi is home to the School of Art, Whiti o Rehua; the Wellington School of Design, Ngā Pae Māhutonga; and the School of Music and Creative Media Production, Te Rewa o Puanga. The college offers degrees in design, Māori visual arts, fine arts, commercial music and screen arts. It puts particular emphasis on developing Māori and Pacific arts and artists, and supporting indigenous creative practice.

The college’s links with Latin America began in 2011, when the Massey International Visiting Researcher Fund and the College of Creative Arts Strategic Research Fund supported Richard Reddaway (Whiti o Rehua) and Gonzalo Ortega (Museo Universitario de Ciencias y Arte, Mexico City) to visit artists in New Zealand and learn about the similarities and differences between New Zealand and Mexican cultures. Following their tour, the artists developed the exhibition El Barroco de Aotearoa, which was shown in Mexico and New Zealand.

El Barroco de Aotearoa was the catalyst for other opportunities for New Zealand and Latin American artists to work together and learn from each other. Initially, it resulted in Richard and other Massey University colleagues Raúl Ortega Ayala and Dr Huhana Smith creating a strategy for Whiti o Rehua. The strategy focuses on creating scholarly connections with colleges, universities and governments bodies in Latin America and the Caribbean, and diplomatic institutions with an interest in heritage and culture.

Since the strategy was developed, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University has continued to develop cultural exchanges through its residency programme Te Whare Hēra. So far, it has brought four researchers from Latin America to Wellington: artists Eduardo Abaroa (Mexico) and Martín Sastre (Uruguay), curator Ruth Estévez (Brazil) – Ruth curated the Bienal de São Paulo – and artistic director José Roca (Colombia) – José directed Rīvus, the 23rd Biennale of Sydney. In 2018, Richard Reddaway, Terry Urbahn and Catherine Bagnall worked with staff and students at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú to produce an exhibition in Lima. And in 2023, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University and the Prime Minister’s Scholarships for Asia and Latin America programme will support a group of students to visit the Bienal de São Paulo.

Alongside a range of corporate sponsors, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University also supports the Latin America and Spain Film Festival, which screens annually in New Zealand. The most recent festival – the 20th edition – toured 11 cities between September and December 2022. Around 7,000 people went to see one of the films in the programme.

The College of Creative Arts Toi Rauwhārangi is led by Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Margaret Maile Petty.

Location

Wellington, New Zealand

Date

Opened in 1999

Published 02 November 2023