Mat Tait: Kupe & the Great Octopus of Muturangi

Along the way, Kupe found that a huge, fearsome wheke (octopus) was taking all the fish in the ocean and the people of Hawaiki had nothing to eat, so he chased the wheke across Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa (the Pacific Ocean). Finally Hine-te-Aparangi, Kupe’s wife, saw land and a long white cloud: Aotearoa!

This interactive event will be an opportunity for tamariki to find out what happened when the wheke and Kupe had a massive battle and to see how this story has been made three-dimensional at Playspace, a new play destination located right on the Mahitahi River and next to the Whakatū Nelson skatepark.

In Motueka, Mat will be introduced by toi Māori curator and playwright, Donna McLeod, who is Nelson Arts Festival Manutūītūī (a kupu, or word, that means ‘the bird that pulls and stitches together’.)

In Whakatū Nelson, the events begins at Tāwera Arts Hub with a kōrero by Johny O’Donnell and Mat Tait and then moves to Playspace Whakatū, where tamariki will be the first to view the space before it officially opens.