Matariki 2025: Art light trail showcasing local creators snakes through Auckland city centre
Waimahara asks people to remember Te Waihorotiu, the stream that flows quietly beneath the underpass.
Commissioned by Auckland Council, this permanent multi-sensory artwork – by Graham Tipene (Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, Ngāti Kahu, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Hauā, Ngāti Manu), technology experts IION, skilled Māori composers and creatives – is just the beginning.
Te Ara Rama Matariki Light Trail. Photo / Glenn Iness
Step 2: Tūrama and Taurima
Upon returning to Queen St, Tūrama will begin to unfold. A series of art installations tells ancient stories of place as you walk towards the sea.
First, participants will see Horotiu, a 9m kaitiaki who symbolically guards the ancestral river, greeting the waharoa in Aotea Square, by celebrated artist Selwyn Murupaenga.
This area carries the historic ngā tapuwae o ngā mana o te whenua, who thrived in this space for hundreds of years.
Turama Kaitiaki.
Manu Korokī will be next. Inspired by the works of revered ringa whao Fred Graham, flocks of manu take flight on opposite sides of Queen St with an accompanying audio track mimicking their birdsong.
Kāhu Kōrako will be visible high in the crosswires, representing an older kāhu whose plumage has lost the dark colouring of youth and whose feathers have turned grey.
Lights, music, and more are on offer in Auckland this Matariki. Photo / Auckland Council
Turn left into the historic Strand Arcade, and Taurima will shine among the trees on Elliot St.
With symbolism of pātaka kai suspended above the street in quirky fluoro-neon art created by Lissy Robinson-Cole (Ngāti Kahu, Ngāti Hine), Rudi Robinson-Cole (Waikato, Ngāruahine, Ngāti Pāoa, Te Arawa), Ataahua Papa (Ngāti Koroki, Kahukura, Ngāti Mahuta), and Angus Muir Design, you will be immersed in the history of this space and place.
Taurima. Photo / Jay Farnwoth
Heading back to Queen St along Victoria St, look back along this unique viewshaft to the Sky Tower and you will see a bespoke Māori art projected on to the city's biggest canvas.
While walking towards the harbour, a Kawau Tikitiki will be suspended in flight above the street, acknowledging this bird's revered constancy of purpose, resolute nature and speed of action.
Upon reaching the original foreshore between Shortland and Fort Sts, participants will walk beneath the majestic Te Wehenga, where illuminated imagery will evolve from whenua to moana.
The role of waharoa in Māori architectural tradition marks the junction of realms, a transition point where something changes; where you will feel you are leaving something behind and progressing into something new.
Tūrama was created by Graham Tipene, Ataahua Papa and Angus Muir Design, with support from Auckland Council and the city centre targeted rate.
Tūrama Te Wehenga. Photo / Jay Farnworth
Step 3: Tūhono
The downtown section of the Matariki light trail begins at Te Komititanga, the square that features permanent works of whāriki where Queen St meets the sea.
Tūhono is an all-new trail of light installations and lightboxes linking Te Kōmititanga along Galway St to Takutai Square and Māhuhu ki te Rangi Park.
Artist Arama Tamariki-Enua – Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, Tumu-te-Varovaro (Rarotonga), Ara'ura (Aitutaki) – has blended tradition with contemporary design. He invigorates ancestral rhythms and motifs with modern arrangements of vibrant colours, introducing an immersive journey for all to experience.
In Takutai Square, Tamariki-Enua worked with Angus Muir and Catherine Ellis on a light and sound installation using patterns that reference tukutuku panels and carving in Tumutumuwhena, with the repetition of the patterns forming the star-like shapes of the Matariki cluster.
Matariki trails include light installations, kapa haka, and street markets in the city centre.
An accompanying soundscape, developed in collaboration with Peter Hobbs, brings back sounds of the foreshore and forest before the modern city was founded. The works are projected on to Te Rou Kai, the public artwork made up of a pop-jet fountain and 16 sculptural stones by an older generation of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei artists.
Tamariki-Enua's creation encourages reflection on what is now and what was then.
The Tūhono light projections in Takutai Square will play every evening from Thursday, June 19, to Thursday, July 10, with a seven-minute light and sound sequence every quarter-hour from 5pm until 10pm.
Tūhono takes the form of a metaphoric waka, drawing a visual and spiritual line toward Takaparawhau, the Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei ancestral stronghold where Tumutumuwhenua, their whare tupuna, proudly stands.
Immerse yourself in modern mahi toi (art) and a lightshow within Takutai Square, stroll among the illuminated mature trees of Beach Rd, marvel at a 10-storey laser projection on to the Nesuto building and fun light designs within Te Tōangaroa, including Te Mātahi o te Tau by Tyrone Ohia and Angus Muir Design.
Tūhono and these new downtown activations for Matariki are brought to Matariki ki te Manawa in the city centre by Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei and Britomart Group, with support from Auckland Council and the city centre targeted rate.
Te Hui Ahurei o Matariki – Matariki Festival Day
Aucklanders can experience kapa haka, waiata, carving demonstrations, raranga (weaving) activations, kite making, stories, art and an insight into special waterways at the Botanic Gardens as part of Matariki Festival Day.
Festivities will begin at 10am and last until 4pm.
Auckland Transport has put on a free park and ride service for the festival.
The main departure point will be the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1185 Alfriston Rd, Alfriston.
If the church carpark reaches capacity, additional parking is available directly across the road at Alfriston College, 540 Porchester Rd.
Buses will run continuously on a loop between 9.45am and 4.45pm.
The last bus to leave the garden will be at 4.45pm, and the garden gates will lock at 5.30pm.
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While Gordon's career led her to high-end circus, Tukiwaho (Te Arawa, Tūhoe and Tūwharetoa) continued to become an experienced theatre maker, teaming with a driving force in Māori theatre Amber Curreen (Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa, Te Roroa) to create Te Pou Theatre. Te Tangi a Te Tūī is performed solely in te reo Māori and has received rave reviews internationally and in Aotearoa. Photo / David Cooper But the recollection of a teenage discussion with Gordon's mum was the catalyst for reuniting to co-write their latest show. 'Eve's mum commented that, 'No one's ever heard the song of the real tūī before. The original song before humans arrived has never been heard by a human', and I thought that was just amazing. 'After that comment, we just let that idea gestate in our minds for over 20 years and, meanwhile, I'd met Amber and, around five years ago, we sat down together and discussed this idea of the tūī.' 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Photo / David Cooper 'Te Tangi a Te Tūī is about our collective remembering,' says Tukiwaho, who has a reputation for fearless storytelling and uplifting Māori voices and received the Bruce Mason Playwriting Award in 2023. 'It's about reclaiming language, whakapapa and the stories that have been waiting patiently for us to return to them. And we're doing it in a way that celebrates Māori innovation, power and wairua.' Te Tangi a Te Tūī is a powerful theatrical experience and unfolds as an evocative meditation on identity and resilience, in the face of colonisation. The 1.45-hour show features a cast of about 10 including Tukiwaho and two of his sons – Paku and Te Rongopai, 13, and their mother. Performed entirely in te reo Māori, the production surrounds audiences with the richness of the language and its cultural resonance. Those who are fluent or on their te reo Māori journey will enjoy the full immersion experience. Those with limited knowledge of te reo Māori and wishing to engage more deeply will be provided with a full English-language synopsis and radio play upon booking. This ensures the work remains accessible to all, allowing audiences to connect with the performance at whatever level suits them. 'I was insistent the English language would not be present in the show,' explains Tukiwaho, adding that a link to the radio play is sent when tickets are purchased with an even mix of people choosing to listen to it either before or after the show. The story centres around a family curse and two magical beings lay claim to the first-born son in this bloodline. Photo / Ralph Brown It was instrumental for their international premiere in Vancouver two years ago, which was received 'amazingly' by the audience with one review describing the power of te reo Māori and circus together as breath-taking. 'It was just an amazing experience with a lot of indigenous people who came along to the show,' he recalls, adding that the international audience were more impressed with the cultural context, whereas their subsequent Kiwi audience, more impressed with the circus. 'Overseas the cultural context and the language was exciting for them but that's because our audience here are lucky they get to experience it often whereas, in Canada, it was a novelty. 'I did notice our performers were far more nervous about performing at home. For one thing, our audience can know what we're saying.' The impact of the play inspired Gordon to enrol to learn te reo. She said the circus acts are used to enhance the narrative. 'If we create the show in a way where people who don't understand the language can understand the narrative, then they can just be immersed in the beautiful waiata that is the reo.' Tainui Tukiwaho, pictured, and Amber Curreen, both co-founders of Te Pou Theatre, teamed with Dust Palace's co-founder and lead circus performer Eve Gordon to bring this show about. Photo / Philip Merry Dust Palace producer Rachael Dubois adds: 'This work lives at the intersection of everything we love – high-calibre physical performance, kaupapa Māori storytelling, and deep collaboration. It's an incredibly special show, and audiences who see it are going to be moved, challenged, and inspired'. After its international premiere in Vancouver in 2023 and an acclaimed Aotearoa season at Te Pou Theatre during Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki/Auckland Arts Festival the following year, Te Tangi a Te Tūī is traveling to five North Island centres, including Tauranga, Rotorua, Taranaki, Whangārei and Kerikeri. 'We love going up north every year,' says Tukiwaho. 'Northland is from my cultural context as it has a huge population of Māori. 'Our people receive it in the way that we intend it to be received because they understand it in the context in the way we're applying it. Our whānau up north open-heartedly respond.' Tukiwaho said the tūī is more of an allegory for the Māori language and how the loss of the tūī's voice is similar to the journey of the Māori language. 'The tūī can no longer remember what their original voice was... our people were dangerously close to that as well. And that's why we're using the tūī in this particular way to show that. That's the journey that our people could have gone on.' Te Tangi a Te Tūī will be at Whangārei Forum North, Tuesday, August 19 and Kerikeri Turner Centre, Friday, August 22 - Saturday, August 23. Visit for booking details.
