Moving pōhiri welcomes arts laureate Horomona Horo to Massey

Alongside the unique voices of other taonga pūoro, or traditional Māori instruments, it heralded the arrival of an exciting future for the Toi Rauwhārangi College of Creative Arts (CoCA) as 2024 Arts Laureate Horomona Horo, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou, Taranaki, was officially welcomed to the Massey staff whānau. 

Master taonga pūoro musician and composer Associate Professor Horo was accompanied by over a dozen supporters who had travelled from many parts of the North Island, including as far away as Tai Tokerau Northland, to awhi him as he takes up his new post of Associate Professor Toi Pūoro. His mahi will be across Te Rewa o Puanga School of Music and Screen Arts and the new Mātauranga Toi Māori major, which is a pioneering offering for tertiary education in Aotearoa New Zealand.

The cultural revival of taonga pūoro brings new life to Māori flutes, trumpets and percussive instruments traditionally used for many purposes including healing, signalling danger, announcing newborns, signifying crop planting and spiritual communication. Horomona comes to us from the University of Waikato, the centre of excellence for this cultural tradition, where he taught under the guidance of the late Hirini Melbourne ONZM and Dr Richard Nunns QSM. He has also been a guest lecturer at the universities of Cambridge, City of London, Oxford and Brunel.

Associate Professor Horo has taken part in multiple collaborations with Ria Hall, Maisey Rika, Fat Freddy’s Drop and Moana and the Tribe, and film scores he has worked on include Whina and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.  

Of the new Mātauranga Toi Māori major, Rongomaiaia Te Whaiti, Kaihautū Toi Māori, Director Toi Māori, says, “With an increasing number of the kōhanga reo generation coming through, it was important that we looked at how we meet their needs and aspirations. How can we nourish them in a way that encourages them to go out and shape creative industries to be more reflective of themselves?  

“With Horomona’s expertise and mātauranga, we’ll be able to grow a generation of musicians that will influence Māori music and contribute to Aotearoa’s unique sound in commercial music. And by having Māori practitioners in every creative discipline that we offer, students will be able to centre Te Ao Māori in their practice, be it design, art, screen or music.” 

CoCA Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Margaret Maile says the new major is an example of the college’s mission to actively uphold the university’s commitment to being Te Tiriti o Waitangi-led. Speaking at the conclusion of the pōhiri after whaikōrero from both tangata whenua and manuhiri, she described the importance of welcoming Associate Professor Horo to the Toi Rauwhārangi whānau, of the taonga pūoro he brings to the wider college community and the vital role he will play in supporting Māori tauira through the new major. She also emphasised the critical social value of creative arts in preserving aspects of cultural identity and carrying them through to the future.  

The pōhiri for new staff also included our artist-in-residence at Te Whāre Hēra, Roan Ching-Yueh 阮慶岳 - a Taipei-based award-winning architect, curator, critic and writer. At the pōhiri, he spoke and sang a song from his own culture and described the pōhiri experience as “moving and dreamlike.” Other new Massey staff welcomed were Bailie Sims, Beckie Jones, Simone Reynolds and Cathryn Wong. 

• Read Stuff’s coverage of our pōhiri.
  
• Meet Horomona Horo and hear his music in this Arts Foundation video (2 minutes).