Reflecting the changing meaning of Maori Economic Wellbeing 

The first Hui Taumata in 1984 launched 20 years of cultural, educational and economic achievement for Maori. In 2005, more than 450 people came together at the second Hui Taumata to reflect on these achievements and to forge a vision for the next 20 years and beyond. Essentially the Hui called for Maori to set the agenda for Maori economic development and was also a vehicle by which economic success could be looked back on and celebrated. The Challenge Since the first Hui, things on the Maori economic development landscape had changed radically. First and foremost there had been a generation change and the balance of power had shifted. The Hui was about accelerating growth and creating pathways for growth for the generations ahead. We were called upon to create a central theme for the forum that communicated the changing meaning of Maori economic development, reinforced the tenets of Tikanga Maori and sensitively flagged some of the current and upcoming issues Maori were facing. The Process We sat down with key stakeholders and organisers of the hui (a Hui in itself!) to tease out the main issues to be addressed. These would form the basis of a narrative we would weave to communicate them. We engaged a couple of Maori from the creative sector to help turn these into more relatable propositions. This ensured we'd be able to wield Te Reo in a more effective way. At every turn we consulted with appropriate gatekeepers to make sure we were on track. We planned all the activity around key needs of a diverse audience. We had to work out the most effective way to communicate these themes and build a creative platform around them. The Outcome The main theme fell around '~The changing of the guard'. Young Maori are now more enterprising than ever and forging their own paths. While Tikanga is important and more often than not used as a foundation, it is built on and expanded for use in a modern context. We took many Maori concepts and contemporised them, such as; '~indigital evolutionary', '~ethnically enhanced', cultural capitalisers' and '~Koi as'. These were set against themed portrait photography of what was deemed '~today's Maori'. Careful talent searches were made to capture a variety of sectors with a mind to carefully reflect the '~changing of the guard theme'. We also used many elements of modern carving being used for the widely acclaimed new Marae being created for Unitec, Auckland. We commissioned a Maori artist and film maker (Tim Worall) to produce kowhaiwhai and monograms that suited the richly layered visual approach we took. While Hui organisers initially leaned towards static imagery for most of the visual display work at the Hui, we suggested they take a more experiential approach using motion media. We created a central motion media piece which was used to punctuate key moments and also as a visual backdrop at activities during the course of the Hui gathering. We also developed motion media activity surrounding the stage which ran continually throughout the three days. This was all supported by all the programmes, tickets, menus, lanyard tags, DVD and Concertina theme cards. People at the Hui gave strong feedback on how well the material had met the theme and how moved they'd been with its expression. It not only set the scene as we'd hoped but inspired people to recommit to the main driver of continuing to embed and strengthen Maori economic wellbeing.

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