Tuhia mai tō whare winners: Colouring into laser cutting

‘Tū whitia te hopo, mairangatia te angitū!’

E te tī e te tā, nāia āku mihi manamanahau ana ki a koutou kia hiki I tēnei whakataetae Tuhia mai tō whare! Tino poho kererū ana mātou te kite i o koutou nei mahi o tērā atu marama kua pahure. Mai Akaroa ki Te Kōpare o Iho, mai Te Tihi o Maru ki Tāmaki Makaurau, e rere tonu ana ngā mihi ki a koutou e noho ana ki ērā wāhi.

Earlier in the year we ran a colouring in competition with a difference. This was the first time for our team running such a huge kaupapa like this, celebrating not just Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori but Māhuru Māori. The challenge, to create and design your own unique wharenui, a meeting house in which your ideas could come to life.

The ideas were endless, and I must say, if these are the types of designs and whakaaro that are coming through with our different age groups, I’m pretty confident our stories of old and the stories to come will have a space represented through the different narratives that some of these upcoming artists are putting out. We want to extend our acknowledgements to you all who entered over the course of the month. Your designs weren’t unnoticed, and they filled our office space with so much warmth and creativity.

Over the entire month of September, we saw over 489 participants take part in this challenge in three categories: 2-5years / 6-11 years / 11-17 years.

It was a hard one to judge and with the amount we had, we decided we would announce eight winners with an added surprise winner for this year’s colouring in competition. These winners were able to see their designs come to life and took home a miniature laser cut version. Here are some of our winners.

Archie, age 3

Ivy, age 5

Liama, age 10

Meher, age 10

Ian, age 11

Further entries that won are customised whare were:

Hari Lee, age 7

Mihirangi, age 8

Nesa, age 15

Our surprise winner came from Ōrauwhata: Bishopdale Library where we had somewhat of an anonymous entry added in by one of our very own within the community, this whare now sits within the walls of Ōrauwhata: Bishopdale Library and if you’re in the neighbourhood or in the library, you might just catch our surprise winner shelving or helping our customers out on the floor.

Again we want to extend our thanks to all our participants who entered and to our winners, kei runga noa atu koutou, enjoy your wharenui and don’t forget to keep your eyes peeled on our next  colouring in competition.

Justice
Kaitakawaenga Māori
Māori Services

More

• Learn about library laser cutters (what we used to make the whare) and vinyl printers (used to turn the art into a sticker)
• Other library competitions
• Full list of winners, including honourable mentions who get a certificate