KŌRERO TOI | ISSUE SIX | MAHI Ā-RINGA / CRAFT Written by Jana Nee (she/her) | @jahncreates | Contributing Writer The darkroom in my high school art class was my creative haven. At sixteen, I spent most lunch breaks there, developing negatives from my film camera. I made strange, carefully staged images of fish heads with doll bodies. There were no creative constraints, and I embraced that freedom, experimenting and finding my voice through art photography. I learned to mix ch

Carrying Care KŌRERO TOI | ISSUE SIX | MAHI Ā-RINGA / CRAFT Written by De Jana Sveistrup (they/she) | @dejana_sv | Contributing Writer Photos by Camden Jackson @camdak.g Studio space with hurricane fence displaying yarn collection, crochet panels and paintings. Photo by Camden Jackson Craft has a way of offering many metaphors to life, such as threads of connection, having a yarn, and unwinding. The art of craft is powerful in its ability to connect. After the resurgence of

Tohi Kumi Koloa KŌRERO TOI | ISSUE SIX | MAHI Ā-RINGA / CRAFT Written by ‘Uhila M.L Jr (she/ her) | @uhila_nai | Contributing Writer The project Tohi Kumi Koloa, delves into the Tongan practices of ngatu barkcloth and kupesi embroidered relief stencil, as a lived document of my ancestors. The work is grounded in the Tongan way of thinking, making, and doing, while adapting to the present day. A practice that exists within and across the past, Tonga, and the present, Aotearoa

KŌRERO TOI | ISSUE SIX | MAHI Ā-RINGA / CRAFT Written by Jeorja Duffy (she/her) @jeorjaduffy & Te Ra Awatea Kemp (she/her) @te.ra.kemp | Contributing Writers @herehere.co We, Jeorja Duffy (Ngāti Kuri, Sa’fanene, Pākehā) and Te Ra Awatea Kemp (Ngāti Raukawa, Te Ātiawa, Pākehā), both embrace craft at the heart of our art practices. Through generational craft, we utilise knowledge such as crochet and quilting in our personal artworks. Working with the handmade, we found common g

NEWS | ISSUE SIX | MAHI Ā-RINGA / CRAFT Written by Liam Hansen (they/them) | @liamhanse.n | Associate Editor Friday, 8 May saw finance minister Nicola Willis announce they would abandon the Fees Free Scheme by way of Winston Peters, roughly eight years after its introduction in the first year of the Ardern government. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon claims that the scheme didn’t meet its goals, reflecting reports in 2023 that the rates of students at decile 1-6 schools enro

Toi Māori moving beyond gender TE AO MĀORI | ISSUE SIX | MAHI Ā-RINGA / CRAFT Written by Skye Lunson-Storey (they/them) | Whakatōhea, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Tūwharetoa | @uku_rangi | Arts, Culture, and Te Ao Māori Editor The patience, collective nature, and tactile act of creating with my hands connect me to something larger than myself. In te ao Māori, mahi ā-ringa/mahi toi are not simply artistic practices; they are vessels of whakapapa, preserving pūrākau and carrying th

NEWS | ISSUE SIX | MAHI Ā-RINGA / CRAFT Written by Liam Hansen (they/them) | @liamhanse.n | Associate Editor Students and faculty across AUT, UoA, and VUW were locked out of Canvas over the weekend, as parent company Instructure was hit by a data breach, leaving troves of personal information at risk. The trials began at the start of the month, when 3.65 terabytes of information, including students' names, email addresses, private messages, and ID cards, were seized in a maj

EDITORIAL | ISSUE SIX | MAHI Ā-RINGA / CRAFT Written by Tashi Donnelly she/her | @tashi_rd | Editor Haere mai, welcome to Debate Magazine, where we’re celebrating the wonderful handmade world of mahi ā-ringa craft. I have about 800 words, and not nearly enough time to cover the infinite, magical, sprawling world of hand-made crafts. Let’s start with now, shall we? It started during the lockdowns; suddenly, everyone was making sourdough bread and picking up knitting. It felt l

WEB EXCLUSIVE | REVIEW & INTERVIEW Written by Skye Lunson-Storey (she/they/ia) | @uku_rangi | Arts, Culture, and Te Ao Māori Editor Dates: May 7, 8, 9 Location: Basement Theatre Tickets: $15-$28 Use code GOODCANT to have 20% off tickets Serving Can’t Created by Marshall Lorenzo is an energetic and chaotic dive into the absurdities of modern work, capitalism, and burnout. Packed with hyper-pop transitions, bright lighting, and a constant rotation of eccentric characters. Mars

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