Te Hononga (the Joining of Worlds)

Massey University Te Kunenga Ki Purehuroa,  The College of Creative Arts,  is doing its bit to connect a Māori meeting house in the grounds of an English estate with its original community. Hinemihi Te Ao Tawhito, the meeting house, was built at Te Wairoa (the ‘buried village’) and survived the Tarawera eruption. She now stands near an 18th century Palladian mansion at Clandon Park in Guildford, Surrey. 

Researchers from the college are currently in the UK and will play a New Zealand dawn chorus at the site on the morning of the 10^th June,  the anniversary of the eruption. This will be translated into light that will wash across the meeting house.

Lecturers Kura Puke (Whiti o Rehua – The School of Art) and Stuart Foster (Nga Pae Mahutonga – The School of Design) have previously applied new technology to make light respond to sound vibrations at different cultural sites. Working through Te Matahiapo Indigenous Research Collective, of which Ms Puke is a member, they will help the Rotorua community of origin ceremonially connect with their ancestor. A live 'virtual mihi' across the world was originally planned for 10 June but has had to be postponed due to a tangi. A bigger event is planned for 2016.  “We are combining new technology and ancient knowledge to make the invisible visible. Virtual connections are well-understood by Māori; by bringing the intangible into the light, these cultural relationships can also be understood by non-Māori.”
 
The Ngāti Hinemihi hapū of Te Arawa have gifted this project the name Te Hononga – A Joining of Worlds.