Auckland Pasifika Festival 2017
Auckland, New Zealand
With the sponsorship of the US Embassy of New Zealand, the Mele Murals team was able to return back to Western Springs Park in Auckland to represent nation of Hawai‘i at the 25th annual Pasifika Festival. The weekend festival celebrates all the polynesian countries that span across Oceania and the Pacific.
Art major students from the Unitec Technical Institute College joined our process of grounding to draw out visions not too different from what youth in Hawai‘i would create. Visions of the ocean around them, a waka (canoe), yin and yang balance symbols, the Matariki star constellation and a tohora (whale) were transferred to the large mobile canvas. We even provided a spray paint lesson to the US Embassyʻs Charge d’Affaires, Candy Green. In the end, we learned that across the ocean, our cousins in Aotearoa/New Zealand have a similar culture to Hawaiians and are very similar minded to how we are as people.
Mural Name
“Te Ārepa Te Omeka” (The Alpha & The Omega, The First and Last, The Beginning and End)
Date Completed
March 2017
Schools Served
Unitec Technical Institute College
Lead Artists
Estria Miyashiro and Mike Bam Tyau
Cultural Practitioners, Kūpuna, Community Orgs
Pasifika Festival Hawaii Village, Paul Woodruffe John and Sarah Tito, Mandy Patmore of Kakano Youth Arts Collective
Sponsors & Supporters
US Embassy New Zealand
We Need Your Help
Your tax deductible Annual Membership provides much needed support for arts education in Hawaiʻi.
Help purchasing much needed supplies for our wall murals.
Assist in funding cultural advisers for our youth workshops.
Help stage events surrounding our public mural unveilings.
We Need Your Help
Your tax deductible Annual Membership provides much needed support for arts education in Hawaiʻi.
Help purchasing much needed supplies for our wall murals.
Assist in funding cultural advisers for our youth workshops.
Help stage events surrounding our public mural unveilings.