E hono ana i a onamata ki a inamata hei ārahi i a anamata.
Kua whakaaturia e Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki tana kaha ki te hāpai i te reo Māori, i runga i te ngākau whakapuke, i tana tuku hōtaka i raro i te maru o Toitū Te Reo, o tētehi wāhanga o Tuia Te Muka Kōrero. Ka ārahi tēnei rautaki i tō mātou haepapa ki te whakaū i te mana o te ao Māori, e whai wāhi nei ko te tukunga o ngā hōtaka reo Māori, ko te whakanui i te reo Māori hei taonga, hei wāhanga whakahirahira hoki e rere māori ana i ō tātou ao i Tāmaki Makaurau nei.
Ko te whāinga o tā mātou mahere, ko te whai kia kitea, kia rangona hoki te reo Māori i te roanga o te Ahurei. Kua whakaurua e mātou te reo Māori ki ngā wāhanga katoa o te Ahurei — ki ngā ingoa o ngā whakaaturanga, ki ngā whakamārama kua whakamāoringia, ki ngā hōtaka reo Māori, ki te whakamahinga hoki o ngā kupu Māori kāore i whakapākehātia, otirā ko ērā kua whānui te whakamahia e te tokomaha o ngā tāngata i Aotearoa.
Mā te huarahi o ngā toi e pāorooro ai te reo ki ngā takiwā katoa o Tāmaki Makaurau – ki te Raki, ki te Tonga, ki te Rāwhiti, ki te Uru, ki te Puku anō hoki. Ko te taonga o te reo Māori kua tukuna iho mai i ngā whakatupuranga kei waenga pū, e whai wāhi ana ki ngā momo toi — ki te pūoro, ki te ruri, ki te whakaari, ki te waiata, ki ngā kōrero anō hoki, hei pāhekoheko mā ngā apataki o ngā pakeketanga katoa, nō ngā iwi katoa hoki, hei pārekarekatanga anō mō rātou.
Connecting the past with the present to guide the future.
Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival has been proud to demonstrate its commitment to te reo Māori through the delivery of programmes under Toitū Te Reo, a component of Tuia Te Muka Kōrero, The Auckland Festival Trust’s Māori Strategy. This strategy guides our responsibility to uphold the mana of te ao Māori, which includes the delivery of te reo Māori programmes, acknowledging the Māori language as a treasure, and as an integral and normalised part of our everyday lives here in Tāmaki Makaurau.
The aim of our plan is to ensure that te reo Māori is seen and heard throughout the Festival. We have integrated te reo Māori into all aspects of the Festival — show titles, translated descriptions, programmes delivered in te reo, and the use of kupu without English equivalents, especially those that have become inherent in their use by many New Zealanders.
Through the platform of the arts, te reo will resound in all areas of Auckland — North, South, East, West and Central. The taonga of the Māori language that has been handed down through generations presents itself front and centre, included into the art forms of music, poetry, theatre, waiata and kōrero, for audiences of all ages and backgrounds to engage with and enjoy.
Toitū Te Reo Highlights
The 2026 Festival lineup featured the following te reo and kaupapa Māori works and collaborations:
Waiora Te Ūkaipō – The Homeland (5–22 March) — A collaboration between the Festival, Auckland Theatre Company and Tawata Productions. First performed in 1996, Waiora is a landmark play exploring the impact of colonisation, the urban drift, and the tension between past and future. Multi-award-winning writer Hone Kouka returned to direct his own powerful reflection on family, culture and belonging.
WET (5–15 March) — From Te Pou Theatre, this new play explored wahine sexuality, creative freedom, and the messy, beautiful contradictions of modern motherhood through the story of an undercover erotic fiction author who writes for her own pleasure — literally. Dr Tūī Matelau (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa, Fo‘ui [Tonga]) won the ADAM NZ Play Award for Best Play by a Pasifika Playwright in 2025 for this work, which received its world premiere at the Festival.
ONO with Moana & the Tribe (8 March) — A one-off performance at Auckland Town Hall, in celebration of Moana & the Tribe's sixth studio album, a global homage to the power of people, relationships and language. Moana Maniapoto, long-time collaborators Paddy Free and Scotty Morrison, and visiting musicians Shellie Morris (Australia) and Kaumakaiwa Kanaka’ole (Hawai’i) united for a special hybrid of live performance, video showcase and haka-funk-dub-fusion.
He Kākano: Becoming Jeff Bezos, Marmite & Honey (13–15 March) — part of the Festival's 'seed of an idea' development initiative, these play readings presented the work of promising young Māori playwrights Alex Medland (Kāi Tahu) and Rainton Oneroa (Te Aupōuri). Jason Te Kare directed two separate casts of actors featuring Nī Dekkers-Reihana, Rima Te Wiata, Tainui Tukiwaho, Lana Garland and others.
Ihi. Wehi. Mana. (20 & 21 March) — These special performances brought together past and present members of Te Waka Huia with choral leader Karen Grylls and an invitational choir. Celebrating the 45th anniversary of Te Waka Huia, and incorporating a brand new composition commissioned by the Festival, Ihi. Wehi. Mana. honoured Māori performing arts and cultural excellence with an uplifting blend of kapa haka, waiata and choral harmony.
He Manu Tīoriori (21 March) — Inspired by the Waiata Anthems project, this te reo Māori music lineup featuring artists Jordyn with a Why, MOHI, and Muroki was unfortunately cancelled due to scheduling and production circumstances.
Te Mauri o te Ahurei
He rite tonu te whakamāramahia o te mauri hei ngaro e here ana i te tangata ki te taiao. Ki te kore te mauri, ka kore te mana.
I hukea ake tēnei kōhatu nei i te wāhi e tū ai te Tūranga o Aotea ka whakaotihia ākuanei, ā, mā te kōhatu nei tātou e here ki tēnei papa, ki tēnei wāhi. Waimarie ana Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki i te takohatanga mai o tēnei kōhatu mauri e Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei hei tohu i te here me te hononga kei waenganui i te iwi me te Ahurei, hei tohu hoki i te mana o Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki i tēnei wāhi.
E akiaki ana mātou i ngā tāngata katoa o Tāmaki Makaurau ki te whakapā atu ki te kōhatu nei kia rongo ai i tōna mauri, ā, kia whakatōkia atu ai hoki he mauri, he mana anō hoki mā te mirimiri i te kōhatu. Mā te pēnei e mau tonu ai te mana o te Ahurei hei ngā rā kei te heke mai.
He kōhatu karā. He mea whakairo nā te ringatoi, nā Chris van Doren.
The life force of the Festival
Mauri is often described as an energy which binds people to the natural world. Without mauri, mana (extraordinary personal power) cannot flow.
This particular stone was excavated from the site of the soon to be completed Aotea Station, and connects us to this place and space. Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival is extremely privileged to have been gifted this mauri stone from Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei as a symbol of the connection and relationship shared between the iwi and the Festival, as well as the mana that AAF holds in this space.
We encourage all Aucklanders to interact with the stone, to feel its life force and to infuse the stone with mauri and mana through rubbing the stone. This will help the Festival to maintain integrity and power throughout the days ahead.