Trent University ::: Daily News

Te Matatini: Whaia e koe te iti kahurangi: Inspiring Maori Performance Art: In Pursuit of Excellence

The following events also include Mr. Huata:

Nov. 19, 8 pm - Nishinaabe-Kweg Ngamowinan … Indigenous

Women's Songs Concert

Nov. 20 & 21, 9:30 am-6 pm - Anishnaabe Maanjiidwin Aboriginal Performing Arts Symposium

Nov. 20 at 10 am there will be a panel discussion with Tama Huata and Aroha Crowchild entitled 'Enhancing Indigenous Language and Cultures through the Performing Arts'

All events take place in the First Peoples House of Learning performance space. Events are open to the public and there is no charge for admission.

Cultural leader and Trent University's 2004/05 Ashley Fellow Tama Turanga Huata will deliver the annual Ashley Lecture on November 15 from 7:30 - 9:30 p.m. in the First Peoples House of Learning performance space.

The title of Mr. Huata's talk is Te Matatini: Whaia e koe te iti kahurangi / Inspiring Maori Performance Art: In Pursuit of Excellence. There is no charge for admission and all are welcome to attend.

Nominated for the Ashley Fellowship by the Department of Native Studies, Mr. Huata is a cultural leader with knowledge in Maori traditional art forms, cultural practices and history. He is founder, artistic director and chief executive officer of Takitimu Performing Arts School as well as the founder of Kahurangi The Maori Dance Theatre of New Zealand. Since 1985, the company has presented more than 2,000 performances in New Zealand and has performed in Australia, China, Singapore, Mexico, the United States and Canada.

His research has led to the establishment of a Masterate Degree for Maori Arts Administration, which has affected Indigenous initiatives globally and has become the source of investigation and research for tribal communities in Malaysia and India, as well as in Canada and the United States.

Also to Mr. Huata's credit is the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Maori Performing Arts at Massey University in Hastings, New Zealand. This is the first degree course to be offered in traditional and contemporary Indigenous performing arts in the world.

Mr. Huata holds an MBA from Massey University and was a Fullbright Scholar at the University of Wisconsin in 1994. In 2003, he was appointed chairman of the Aotearoa Traditional Maori Performing Arts Society - a national organization.

While at Trent, Mr. Huata will discuss his research and the results of his work, particularly recent developments with Indigenous peoples in Malaysia and India, where the principles and techniques utilized to recover and perpetuate Maori language and culture are explored in new contexts, and serve as the source of new work and inspiration.

The Ashley Fellowship is funded by a bequest from the late Professor C.A. Ashley, longtime friend of Trent University and an enthusiastic proponent of the role that informal contacts of college life can play in the academic pursuits of the University. The Ashley Fellow is therefore a visiting scholar who is a resident guest in one of Trent's five residential Colleges.

Tama Huata's residency is also supported by The Canada Council for the Arts' Aboriginal People's Collaborative Exchange Grant.