ĀKAU Pānui: October 2022

It’s been a time of change here at ĀKAU, new kaimahi, new pēpi, new projects and some exciting new ways of doing things. Including this newsletter/pānui which aims to be more regular, more relevant and more exciting than ever.

But first, a reminder about what we do!
ĀKAU strives to empower taitamariki around Aotearoa to feel more connected and creative so that they can navigate the future with confidence. We help taitamariki recognize and harness the creativity of their tupuna by involving them in tangible projects that have real impact for taitamariki, their whānau and their community.

KA KITE ANO ANA & WELCOME NGĀWATI!
Our wonderful director and co-founder Ana Heremaia is on maternity leave and recently had her beautiful pēpi Ngāwati Heremaia. We have been lucky to have had zoom meetings with Ana and Ngāwati as well as have them join us for the Te Reo Māori on the Streets launch. We will miss having Ana in the studio, but we wish her all the best!

KA KITE ANO FELICITY!
While Felicity is still in ĀKAU at a trustee level, she has left the kaimahi realm to pursue her own architecture company and focus on project managing her own house build in Mahurangi. Luckily for Ruby she is just down the road so never too far away to wrack Felicity’s brain on ĀKAU related mahi!

WELCOME JO!
Jo Walsh joined ĀKAU in June 2022. Her background in Project Management & Business Development is taking ĀKAU to the next step. We’re so happy to introduce Jo to the ĀKAU whānau!

ĀKAU would also like to acknowledge the newly elected Councilors for the Far North District Council! Particularly our first Māori Mayor of the Far North, Moko Tepania and the Ngā Tai o Tokerau Māori Ward councillors Hilda Halkyard-Harawira, Tāmati Rākena, Penetaui Kleskovic and Babe Kapa, who will take their places beside reelected colleagues Kelly Stratford (Deputy Mayor), Ann Court, John Vujcich and Felicity Foy. And a shoutout to new members of the Northland Regional Council - Tui Shortland and Peter Lucas-Jones!

As ĀKAU evolves, so do our projects. Thankfully we’re back to our unique kanohi ki te kanohi papamahi. Projects that have been in the pipeline for a while are now coming to fruition and we love seeing the impact of these projects in our communities.

ĀKAU is thrilled to announce the completion of this community project!

The main street of Kaikohe has seen buildings and surfaces uplifted with bright colours and typographic mahi toi designed by taitamariki in collaboration with artists and designers. Our community celebration held in September involved a hikoi to visit each of the installations and concluded with the launch of ‘Ngā Tapuwae a Rāhiri’ a waiata and video recorded with local taitamariki and inspired by the kupu and whakatauki used in the ‘Te Reo Māori on the Streets’ kaupapa. ĀKAU would like to acknowledge all of the taitamariki and artists who were part of this journey and all of the kaitautoko who supported us during this kaupapa!

Ngā Mihi!

ĀKAU designed the set for filming for Na Wai I Teka. The designs reflect ‘E Toru Hakatupuranga’ - The 3 generations that come together to hakawhiti kōrero through the kaupapa of Nā Wai I Teka. The key elements that have been created are:

01 - A whero triangular light representing the tikanga that has been handed down through the generations.
02 - The kahurangi circle table representing the energy attained through the never ending ebb and flow of kōrero.
03 - The kākāriki carpet representing Hākaro Māori and the strong foundation of this kaupapa.

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ĀKAU took part in this kaupapa in Kaikohe and Moerewa to trial ways of slowing traffic and making streets safer for taitamariki and whānau with permanent solutions the goal for the future. Community hui identified areas of high traffic risk and offered ideas for change. Planter boxes, bright painted graphics and speed tables have all been installed to slow traffic and have seen change begin to happen!

ĀKAU collaborated with Jasmax to engage Mana Whenua and Hospital Kaimahi in our unique papamahi engagement process to explore concept ideas for the Radiation Oncology Unit which Jasmax are now taking further into the design process. A good working relationship between ĀKAU and Jasmax was formed, with positive interactions and a recognition of each other’s expertise. We look forward to working with them again in the future!