A world audience has experienced a taste of Manurewa kapa haka.
Manurewa Local Board Rangatahi Youth Grant funding made it possible for Wheiao Kapahaka to travel to cultural festivals in Italy at Galeate, Lanzo and Curnado.
Board chair Glenn Murphy says the group even got front page newspaper treatment during its Italian adventure.
“We are very proud that we were able to commit a little bit of funding to support a group that has worked incredibly hard and represented us so well on a world stage.”
Wheiao Kapahaka performed more than 40 times, local rangatahi representing Aotearoa and creating opportunities for people from other countries to experience Te Ao Māori.
In a report to the board the group says each of the three seven-day festivals featured twice daily performances.
Front page treatment for the group in an Italian newspaper.
At Lanzo, members of the group also led a 120-strong parade through the ancient city, and regular haka workshops were a crowd favourite.
As well as kapa haka, waiata and poi, mau raukau martial arts and taiaha skills were showcased.
Young team member Maia even became a poster girl for all of the festivals, with her picture posted everywhere.
Murphy says the group was focussed on creating opportunities for other indigenous cultures to experience Te Ao Māori, inviting them to share, while in turn learning from other cultures.
“The report says that aspect was one of the biggest learning curves for rangatahi, many staggered by how young their country was compared to the ancient European cultures involved.
“But they also came away understanding how fortunate they were to still have such strong indigenous links to their cultural practices and traditions.
A little piece of Te Ao Māori all the way from Manurewa joined other cultural groups at a civic reception.
The report to the board did however underline a darker side of the cultural events, putting the youngsters in touch with their counterparts from Ukraine, many of whom - mostly young girls and boys – were attending because their fathers and brothers were fighting for their country in the war with Russia.
The Curnado event put the group in contact with a large Romanian contingent before it was able to spend time enjoying all the ancient Italian capital of Rome has to offer.
Murphy says the board’s funding was appropriate for the group. “Here we have a group of young people who have enjoyed what must be a life-changing experience while at the same time helping to spread their unique culture across the world, all while representing Manurewa so ably.
“While most of the grants we make go to helping young people with their studies, this perfectly illustrates the opportunities that can be opened up by the fund.”
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