Kia Mau Festival

The Kia Mau Festival, previously called Ahi Kaa Festival, is a biennial performing arts festival in Wellington, New Zealand. In te reo Māori, kia mau is "a call to stay - an invitation to join us".

The festival covers Māori, Pasifika and indigenous performing arts, including comedy, music, dance and theatre, across a variety of venues around the Wellington area.

Background

The Kia Mau Festival was founded by playwright Hone Kouka. The inaugural festival was in 2015, and it was held annually until 2019. Background to the Kia Mau festival was the production company Tawata with Kouka and another playwright Mīria George at the helm creating the Matariki Development Festival in 2010 at Circa Theatre. This was a festival for 'new writing for the stage by Māori'. Tawata had also organised a meeting about 'Māori Theatre' at Downstage Theatre in 2006, at this was a panel discussion chaired by Alice Te Punga-Somerville who asked, "Describe the last play your wrote and how it fits into Māori theatre?" In 2008 the Māori theatre discussions continued, now called Matariki Playwrights and included an address by Rore Hapipi / Rowley Habib that was published in the Playmarket Annual where he talks about forming the theatre company Te Ika a Maui Players in 1976 because of his experiences in the protest land march of 1975. The Kia Mau Festival programmed a tribute to Hapipi after he died in 2016.

The Matariki festival developed over time to include presentations of plays as well as workshops with playwrights and hūi / meetings about Māori theatre. In 2010 and 2011 the Matariki Development Festival hosted First Nation writer, director and dramaturg Yvette Nolan from Canada. In 2014 the festival included productions of plays and included ''Hīkoi'' by Nancy Brunning and ''2080'' by Aroha White being staged alongside rehearsed performances of ''Bless the Child'' by Hone Kouka and ''Ships'' by Moana Ete. The Matariki Development Season in 2014 was two weeks in duration. Tanea Heke and Mitch Tawhi Thomas summarising their thoughts about the Kia Mau Festival in 2019 articulated that the struggles and environment is the same through the work in the festival but it is different in the various works and how this creates a collective voice that was apparent from an indigenous artists' perspective.

2015 Festival

The first Ahi Kaa Festival featured six productions over three weeks, by six Māori companies: White Face Crew, Tawata Productions, Hāpai Productions, Modern Māori Quartet, Taki Rua Productions and Tikapa Productions. Circa Theatre was again a venue alongside BATS Theatre, the Hannah Playhouse and Soundings Theatre in Te Papa. Productions included ''Manny Pacquiao of Timberlea'' by Natano Keni and ''The Beautiful Ones'' by Hone Kouka.

2016 Festival

The 2016 Kia Mau Festival ran from 7–25 June and included eight productions across three weeks. Performances included ''Versions of Allah'' by Ohokomo, ''The Vultures'' by Tawata Productions, ''Shot Bro'' by Mookalucky Productions, ''Tiki Tour'' by Hāpai Productions, ''Solothello'' by Te Rehia Theatre Company, ''La Vie dans une Marionette'' by Whiteface Crew, ''Whakaahuatia Mai'' by Taki Rua Productions, and ''Mana Wahine'' by Okareka Dance Company. Venues included BATS Theatre, Circa Theatre, and Te Papa.

2017 Festival

The 2017 Kia Mau Festival ran from 2–24 June, and included a tribute to playwright Rore Hapipi, who died in 2016, called ''Portrait of an Artist Mongrel'' produced by Hāpai Productions (Nancy Brunning and Tanea Heke) that included theatre artists old, Jim Moriarty, Mitch Tawhi Thomas and young, Trae Te Wiki and Moana Ete.

2018 Festival

The 2018 Kia Mau festival was held 1–16 June. It included an all-female production of Hone Kouka's play '' Waiora – The Homeland'' by Wahine Works at the Hannah Playhouse.

2019 Festival

At the 2019 Kia Mau Festival was ''Pakarū'' written by Mitch Tawhi Thomas about a solo mum raising teenagers in New Zealand produced by Hāpai Productions.

2021 Festival

The 2021 festival, from 4–19 June, features more than 100 events across three weekends. Highlights include the world premieres of ''All I See'' by Cian Parker, and ''Daughter'' by Teremoana Rapley. There will also be a production of ''The Mourning After'', written and directed by Ahi Karunaharan. Nancy Brunning who died in 2019 has her last work presented which is her play ''Witi’s Wāhine,'' a tribute to the women in the writing of well-know Māori author Witi Ihimaera.

References

{{Reflist

Performing arts in New Zealand
Festivals in Wellington
Arts festivals in New Zealand