TE AO MĀORI | ISSUE SEVEN | MATARIKI Written by AUT MĀORI and Breana-Ann Kaponga @autmaori and Breana-Ann Kaponga @kxpnga Kua haehae ngā hihi o MatarikiThe rays of Matariki are spread This Matariki artwork was commissioned by the Pou Māori team at AUT. Each tau hōu (new year), nine artworks are commissioned to celebrate the rising of Matariki. Each artwork is downloadable and accompanied by a scannable QR code containing information about the star cluster. They encourage you

Different, Unusual, Abnormal, Changed. INTERVIEW / TE AO MĀORI | ISSUE SEVEN | MATARIKI A kōrero with Emily Lyall (she/her) @teaoemily on her programme Rerekē as the 2026 Artspace Aotearoa curatorial intern. Interviewed by Skye Lunson-Storey (they/them) | Arts, Culture, Te Ao Māori Editor The concept of Rerekē encourages artists to be "bold, weird, and different." Expanding on three toi Māori categories, what does being rerekē mean to you personally, and how has that idea sha

Written by Piremina Ngapera (she/her) | @piremina | Contributing Writer Illustration by Maia Staples-Fletcher (she/her) | @maia_sfletch | Contributing Artist Long before calendars were fixed on walls and screens, my tiipuna looked to the eastern horizon before dawn, where Matariki returned with the midwinter sky. Its rising marks the close of one year and the beginning of another. Yet to call it simply "the Maaori New Year" feels incomplete. Across Aotearoa, not every iwi wa

TE AO MĀORI | ISSUE SEVEN | MATARIKI Written by Taigaga (Jamal) Rerecich (he/him) | @417mal | Contributing Writer Matariki 2026 carries the theme Herenga Waka - For Everyone, and the question that theme invites, if we are being honest about the political moment it lands in, is whose "everyone" is being offered and on what terms. The public holiday passed into law in 2022 without the support of National or ACT, both of whom now govern. In the same parliamentary term, those par

FEATURE / TE AO MĀORI | ISSUE SEVEN | MATARIKI Written by Ivy Lyden-Hancy (she/her/ia | Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Wairere, Tūkorehe, Samoa (Falefā), Tonga (Vava’u) | @tekaraipiture | Contributing Writer Illustration by Maia Staples-Fletcher (she/her) | @maia_sfletch | Contributing Artist I see my family in the stars, from Hokianga to Waikato, we are the stars of Matariki. Our waka wairua as we travel through time. Stuck in it, in the nostalgia, my tupuna, my nanas, my papas,

THE HOT LESBIAN | COLUMN | ISSUE SIX | MAHI Ā-RINGA / CRAFT Written by This Week’s Hot Lesbian, Wren Probett (she/her) @inkdogshirts | @hot_lesbian_initiative | Contributing Lesbian What could possess someone to wear a shirt that reads “Gay Dog” or “Dyke”? What must go wrong in a person’s life, for them to spend hours carefully carving those words from linoleum? Of all things, why a shirt? I mean, are you planning on wearing that on the bus? At the mall?? If you’ve seen my sh

FEATURE | ISSUE FIVE | PUORO O AOTEAROA / LOCAL MUSIC Written by Polly Wenlock (she/her) | @p0lly2001 on Substack | Contributing Writer Local music surrounds us constantly, though it may not be in forms we tend to celebrate or even acknowledge. I’m not just talking about your classic Kiwi chilled-out-summer-vibes garage-band, though they too deserve their accolades… I’m talking seasonal mall carollers, your optimistic main-street busker, the man who plays the bugle at your l

FEATURE | ISSUE FIVE | PUORO O AOTEAROA / LOCAL MUSIC Written by Darian Serrano (he/him) | @gumvoid | Contributor Photos by y Sandy Hughes | @spacecadetsandy Hardcore music is a heavier subgenre of punk that also has influences from metal and hip-hop. It emphasises heavy breakdowns, screaming vocals, and faster tempos, while discussing a variety of topics, from the personal to current geopolitical issues. The genre is also known for its violently high-energy shows and unique,

FEATURE | ISSUE FIVE | PUORO O AOTEAROA / LOCAL MUSIC Written by Ethan Worthington (he/him) | Contributing Writer Awning - Seeing a band live eight times in one year could be seen as insane or financially stupid. But you see, Awning isn’t just a band; they’re a portal to a sonic wonderland where I escape from everything. Every time I see Awning play live, I shut my eyes and mentally swim through their magical compositions. Poetic lyrics, layers upon layers of mystically tuned

FEATURE | ISSUE FIVE | PUORO O AOTEAROA / LOCAL MUSIC Written by Jey Min Lam 林洁敏 (they/them) | @_jeymin | Contributing Writer It becomes exceedingly tough to live in true tandem with your culture, the one that feels like home, when you find more belonging in the Western sphere than you ever had in your place of origin. I can’t go home without feeling like I no longer belong, yet I am no doubt still an outsider in New Zealand. I don’t know its ins and outs, its unspoken rules,

INTERVIEW | ISSUE FIVE | PUORO O AOTEAROA / LOCAL MUSIC Interview with Arabella Devine (she/her) | @_ringlets | Interviewed by Mads Bradley (she/her) | @shutupmads Debate Mag: What’s something about the music industry that’s surprised you since being part of the scene and growing as a band? Arabella: Oh, there’ve been a few surprises for sure. One thing I’d been made aware of recently is how people want to assume that if there’s one female member in the band, then she must b

ISSUE FOUR/20 | RONGO Ā / DRUGS By Know Your Stuff NZ | @ knowyourstuffnz | https://knowyourstuff.nz/ Hi! We’re KnowYourStuffNZ, a peer-led drug harm reduction organisation. We’ve been checking people’s drugs and helping people reduce their drug-related risks in Aotearoa since 2015. We got the Misuse of Drugs Act permanently changed in 2021 so we could do our job without our clients or us getting arrested, which made life WAY easier. Why get your drugs checked? If you’re

FEATURE | RONGOĀ / DRUGS Written by Stu Paul (any pronoun) Contributing Writer Painting from Jaipur, India, showing the use and effects of bhang , anonymous, ca. 1800. The spiritual and religious use of mind-altering drugs goes back to the very earliest records in human history. In this article, I will explore several different substances that have been used by various cultures to attain alternate states of consciousness for spiritual and religious purposes. Soma was the name

TE AO MĀORI | ISSUE FOUR/20 | RONGO Ā / DRUGS Interview with Anna-Leigh Hodge | Te Rarawa, Ngātiwai Interviewed by Skye Lunson-Storey | Arts, Culture, & Te Ao Māori editor Tū Wairua is a Hauora Māori initiative designed, led, and directed by Māori (Rangiwaho, Ngāi Tāmanuhiri) investigating the safety and effectiveness of administering rongoā Māori psilocybe taonga species to whānau suffering from problematic methamphetamine use (PMU). Skye: Can you share a bit about who you

FEATURE | ISSUE FOUR/20 | RONGO Ā / DRUGS Written by James A. Glass He/Him | @magicalflamebow | Contributing Writer I’ve always found addiction to be a terrifying thing. The idea that you can become hooked on a substance that actively destroys your body, and that you also cannot simply quit, is nightmare-inducing. I’m genetically predisposed to alcohol dependency, and that scares the ever-living hell out of me. The horror stories of people who go through addiction have preven