Amplifying the voices of the Arts sector in the Wellington region
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If you are an Arts Wellington member or an artist, practitioner or arts organisation in the Wellington region, add your voice and ideas to the development of our next Arts Action Agenda.
The Wellington Regional Art & Cultural Development Trust (Toi o Taraika Arts Wellington) is a charitable trust that provides networking opportunities, communication platforms, advocacy and capability building forums for our membership base. Our members are made up of a number of the Greater Wellington region’s professional arts, culture and heritage organisations, arts service organisations and education institutions.
Image: Litcrawl 2018. Photo: Vanessa Rushton
Toi o Taraika - Arts Wellington
Our name is an acknowledgement of the significant ancestor – Taraika. We recognised his skills as an artist, and as a leader for his people. This name was developed by collaboration with Toi Māori and IDIA.
Taraika (otherwise known as Tara) is the eponymous ancestor who lived in Te Upoko o Te Ika a Maui (The Head of the Fish of Maui – Wellington) and consequently a tribe was named after him called Ngāi Tara. Taraika named the great harbour known as Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington Harbour). His name is also commemorated in the Tararua ranges, ‘Ngā waewae e rua a Tara; The spanned legs of Tara,’ meaning that his descendants had occupied either side of the range.
Image: Kupe, A Waka Odyssey, New Zealand Festival 2018
Photo: Jeff McEwan