A new chapter for Māori arts and cultural excellence

Arts and Culture Business Kaupapa Māori

Pictured: NZMACI carvers current and past, (L-R): Grant Marunui, Shannon Mahuika, Maaka Toi, Tumanako Toi, Gordon Toi, Clive Fugill, Fayne Robinson, Stacy Gordine, Tukiri Tini, Te Mauri Tini.

Last week, a powerful new chapter began for Māori arts in Aotearoa with the launch of the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute (NZMACI) Foundation – a charitable organisation created to protect, grow, and pass on the richness of our country’s Māori traditional knowledge through genuine partnership.

It was a night filled with pride and purpose as iwi leaders, community trusts, alumni, artists and supporters gathered at Te Puia to celebrate the kaupapa. This launch represents more than an organisational milestone – it’s a wero to all of us to invest in the future of our people and our stories.

Since Tā Apirana Ngata first established NZMACI through a historic Act of Parliament, its mission has been clear: to preserve and promote the highest standards of toi Māori. Now, under the 2020 Vesting Act, that vision is being led by mana whenua Wāhiao Tūhourangi and Ngāti Whakaue ensuring that cultural guardianship is firmly rooted in the rohe it belongs to.

Through the Foundation, NZMACI is seeking enduring relationships with iwi, businesses and individuals who see value in our culture – not just as something to be admired, but something to be lived, protected and handed down. As the Foundation’s funding and commercial innovation manager Tatiana Kiwi-Knight said, “We are asking iwi and businesses to come and have a kōrero with us about partnerships.”

Tainui chair Tukoroirangi Morgan answered that call on the night, announcing a commitment to support tauira from his iwi to study at NZMACI in 2026.

His gesture was echoed by Ngāi Tahu master carver and NZMACI graduate Fayne Robinson, who reminded us of the lifelong impact the institute has had on so many.

“I feel we always owe this space, NZMACI, for what it has given to us, so anything we can do to help – we are always here,” he said.

The evening included guided tours of the three national schools – wood carving, stone and bone carving, and weaving – as well as a silent auction of taonga created specially by current tauira. Each piece was a living example of excellence, heritage and heart.

Speakers on the night included master carver Gordon Toi, his son Maaka Toi, MC Scotty Morrison, Te Puia CEO Tim Cossar, and NZMACI general manager Eraia Kiel. All shared a vision of a future shaped by excellence, unity and cultural pride.

Rotorua can be proud to be the home of this institute. The launch of the NZMACI Foundation signals not only a renewed commitment to mātauranga Māori, but also a call for collective responsibility to nurture and uphold the legacy of our tohunga and their tauira.

To learn more about the NZMACI Foundation or to get involved, visit www.nzmacifoundation.com