Ngā Kākano

The Ngā Kākano kaupapa

Ngā Kākano provides an opportunity for our whānau and wider audiences to engage with respected Māori and Pasifika leaders and experts who share their unique experience, perspectives, expertise and insights, laying seeds of knowledge at Tāmaki Paenga Hira, in Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa and indeed across Te Moana nui a Kiwa. It is a moment in time where indigenous knowledge is brought to the fore and valued, countering the dominant colonial knowledge of things.

Ngā Kākano is a mixed online and onsite programme. Here, you can explore the online kōrero, and see our upcoming live events.

July 2023

Ola Hou, Revitalising Hula Kiʻi

Through performance, story, and historic visuals and moving images, representatives from three hula lineages will draw the audience into the world of what has been a critically endangered genre of hula, also known as Hawaiian Puppetry, being revived through collective effort.

Explore the Ngā Kākano series

Spring 2022

Pacific Curatorial Practice through Teu Le Vā

July 2022

Bringing Back the Forgotten: The Ulumate Project

December 2020

Decolonising and Indigenising Museums

Spring 2022

Pacific Curatorial Practice through Teu Le Vā

What does Indigenising Curatorial Practice look like through a Pacific lens in museums, what are museums' responsibilities in this and how does change occur in this space?

Listen in

September 2022

Te Ao Mārama: The 'space for decolonisation to begin'?

Te Ao Mārama (the Realm of Light) represents a step change in the development of a bicultural and communitarian architecture at Auckland Museum, a building steeped in the formality of the western design tradition. It signals the present and the future of Tāmaki, connecting but also breaking with the Museum’s colonial heritage. Addressing Albert Refiti’s recent provocation, our four speakers explored the extent to which Te Ao Mārama is the ‘space for decolonisation to begin’.

July 2022

Bringing Back the Forgotten: The Ulumate Project

How do you revitalise the making of an indigenous taonga where museums are the only place that you can see them today?

Watch the full discussion online, and read up on our speakers.

December 2020

Decolonising and Indigenising Museums

Fuluhi ki tua ke kitia mitaki a mua
Look to the past to clearly see the way forward

Watch the full discussion online, and read up on our speakers.

May 2020

Rotuma talanoa

A special two-part Ngā Kākano focusing on Rotuma brings members of the Rotuman community together with Museum kaitiaki to showcase and celebrate Rotuman treasures from our collection.

Watch the full discussion online.

About Ngā Kākano

+Who has spoken at Ngā Kākano?

December 2020: Decolonising and Indigenising Museums
Moderator: Sandra Kailahi
Keynote Speaker: Emeritus Prof Ngāhuia Te Awekōtuku
Sheridan Waitai
Dr Albert Refiti
Nigel Borell
Zech Soakai

November 2019: Hawaiian Music Masters
Bryan Tolentino
Halehaku Seabury

October 2018: Looking to the future to revive the past
Facilitator: Ole Maiava
Daren Kamali
Inise Kaisuni Eremasi
Cora-Allan Wickliffe
Joana Monolagi

+What is the Ngā Kākano series at Auckland Museum?

The Ngā Kākano event series was established at Tāmaki Paenga Hira, Auckland Museum, in 2017 as an opportunity to promote the social and cultural ideas, knowledge and expertise from within our diverse communities, in this case, Maori and Pasifika communities who have a strong association to our world-class cultural collections.