He Ara Uru Ora

He Ara Uru Ora: Ngahina Hohaia in conversation with Anna-Marie White

NGAHINA HOHAIA (Taranaki iwi, Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Ruanui, Ngāti Moeahu, Ngāti Haupoto—Parihaka) and ANNA-MARIE WHITE (Manukorihi hapū, Te Ātiawa—Waitara) are whanaunga. Their ancestors actively resisted colonial land sales in Taranaki—which led to the outbreak of the New Zealand Land Wars with Crown forces at Waitara in 1860, and the wholesale confiscation of Taranaki Māori land in 1865—and were part of the Parihaka movement, which resisted confiscation and advocated the restoration of land to ensure Māori survival. The Parihaka community was invaded and dismantled by colonial troops in 1881, though Parihakatanga was maintained by whānau at the Parihaka papa kāinga and throughout Taranaki, including Owae marae at Waitara.

Ngahina spoke with Anna-Marie about He Ara Uru Ora (2023), commissioned by the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery for the exhibition Te Hau Whakatonu | A Series of Never-Ending Beginnings (5 August 2023–11 February 2024). First published in partnership with Art News Aotearoa, this interview is republished as the first issue of tātā riporipo with additional contextual imagery and documentation of Ngahina’s numerous poi installations (2006 – 2025).

tātā riporipo is a publication series dedicated to ngā toi Māori, profiling artists, practices and ideas beyond the temporality of exhibition programming. The concept of each issue is simple: one issue, one practice, one edited conversation or one essay. The title of the series, given by Te Ingo Ngaia, evokes the image of rippling rings of growth in a tree’s trunk and speaks to the ambition of the series: to assist the growth and circulation of critical discussions by toi Māori practitioners.

He Ara Uru Ora: Ngahina Hohaia in conversation with Anna-Marie White
Contributors: Anna-Marie White, Ngahina Hohaia, Taarati Taiaroa
Issue #1 tātā riporipo, October 2025.
ISSN: 3021-5099
Published by Govett-Brewster Art Gallery
Designed by Extended Whānau