Online wānanga with Mr G

Posted: Monday Aug 15, 2022

If you follow artist ‘Mr G’ (Graham Hoete) you may have seen him announce an upcoming online wānanga Te Pūtahitanga starting soon.

Creative New Zealand, through its Te Hā o ngā Toi, the Māori Arts Strategy, is proud to support Mr G to present these online wānanga Te Pūtahitanga for artists and ngā toi Māori to navigate the world as a Māori artist.

Graham says,“I receive hundreds of messages and questions from young artists, a whole spectrum of questions, and it all comes down to how do we as artists navigate the space between te ao tawhito, the old world and te ao hurihuri, the current ever-changing world of today.”

He continues, “I’ve received questions ranging from “How do I become a full-time artist?” “How do I price my work?” “How do I market my mahi without coming across as whakahihi? Also, questions relating to protecting cultural integrity, preserving our pūrākau and IP. The hope is that the online wānanga can help answer the questions.”

“Te Pūtahitanga is all about navigating convergence points between te ao tawhito me te ao hurihuri and how we as ringa toi and artists navigate this constantly evolving space. I choose to utilise my social media reach and give what I can to Māori artists, utilise what I’ve learnt and what I have to help others.”

“Mr G is a multi-disciplinary visual, whakairo, graphic design, fashion construction artist who drew global attention with his building size tribute mural to musician Prince in Minnesota USA and propelled him and our country to international audiences, so we know he has enormous vision,” saus Senior Manager, Māori Strategic Partnerships Paula Carr.

She continues, “Building a stronger sector to advance ngā toi Māori aspirations locally and internationally is a corner stone of Te Hā o Ngā Toi, the Māori Arts Strategy, and when Arts Practice Director Māori, Kereama Te Ua brought us the concept of online wānanga with Graham, we recognised their importance for the sector, for artists and for ngā toi Māori.”

On what he’s creating for Te Pūtahitanga, Graham said, “I’ve been chipping away at my speakers list. My first speaker will be my friend and fine art carver Todd Couper - his work is exquisite and he’s an enormous inspiration who will be able to share. I’ll invite more guest speakers to share their knowledge on the many spaces and places of the arts world. I want to make it easier for others, I want to help others by sharing with them some of the lessons I learn and also the learnings from other inspirational and practicing full time Māori artists and curators.”

Te Putahitanga conversations will be available via Mr G’s Instagram and Facebook once a month over the next six months.

Creative New Zealand is supporting another project with Mr G that will be unveiled in September; as a hint te wiki o te reo Māori is coming and stories of te reo Māori will be shared! More details soon.

https://www.creativenz.govt.nz/News-and-blog/2022/08/08/00/47/43/Online-wananga-with-Mr-G