Toi Taiao Whakatairanga: Tukanga: Processes of Navigating the Interface between Art Curation/Research, Forest Ecologies and Māori Perspectives

What processes are involved in navigating the interface between mātauranga Māori/Māori knowledge frameworks, Western arts, and science perspectives when working to raise public awareness of the plant diseases kauri dieback and myrtle rust? This paper explores how our collaborative project, Toi Taiao Whakatairanga (uplifting the environment through the arts), attempts to do this, focusing on what we have learned about our tukanga (processes). Our project consists of a mixed group of Māori and Pākehā, curators, arts researchers, social scientists and a biological scientist. We are commissioning Māori artists to respond to the ecological threats of kauri dieback and myrtle rust and to encourage public awareness in some form. Underlying the project are the aims to generate new understandings of how the arts can support mana motuhake (self-determination) for Māori and communities in relation to these plant pathogens.