Journal // Matariki with Arpége Taratoa
Matariki is the Māori name for the cluster of stars also known as the Pleiades. Matariki rises in mid-winter and for many Māori, its visibility in the night sky signifies the beginning of a new year.
As this is the last time we celebrate Matariki before it becomes a national holiday in Aotearoa, we wanted to engage in some meaningful korero around the celebration. So we spent some time with Arpége Taratoa, who painted our storefront window with her interpretation of Matariki and its significance to both her as an artist and in Te Ao Māori.
Arpége has a Bachelor of Fine Arts (honours), and a Postgraduate Diploma in Māori Visual Arts - majoring in Photography and Moving Image. Alongside her background as Artist, Creative Director, Project Manager and Curator, Arpége is also a full-time māmā to four year old son, Waiariki.
Outside of her career, Arpége practices working with traditional Māori womb healing modalities to support wāhine in moving stored trauma to release creative potential. As a creative, as a mother, and as a woman, she is deeply committed to exploring creativity and its ability to truly bring colour to ones life.
This window installation takes inspiration from traditional Māori art forms - specifically tukutuku panels and whāriki (mats). Tukutuku are found lining the inner roof of marae, and whāriki on the floors; both traditionally woven by women.
The angular colour swatches are symbolic of Matariki being a time where Heaven and Earth join. It was a time to cultivate the land and look to the heavens - whether it be for signs of what to prepare for the coming year, when to plant seeds etc. or to remember and mourn those who had left the earth during that year.
The crossed designs in the upper part of the window are an abstraction of Purapurawhetū (star seeds).
The use of this pattern is not only symbolic of the stars in the heavens, but also to signify the importance of unity and a coming together.
With Matariki set to become a public holiday in 2022, this is just the beginning in unifying our country more in supporting our cultural values and history.
The use of this pattern is symbolic of the importance of food preparation/cultivation etc. around the time of Matariki, and the importance of women in Māori society, traditions and narratives. It is a subtle reference to the value Māori placed on women, and that gender bias and hierarchy was not existent in Te Ao Māori.
With all that is going on in the world, this is a hope for the coming year to return more to the values of old and shift away from oppressive and suppressive mentalities.
As the sisters of Matariki guide us into the new year, let us weave more together as a country, as a peoples, and normalise honouring traditional cultural values and practices within our societal structure.
