Hā ki roto, hā ki wahoBreathe in, breathe out

Gather your mates for this unique summer experience connecting with te taiao in the heart of the city.

Experience an immersive performance as artists explore their personal relationship with te taiao through poetry and taonga puoro. Followed by a live DJ set, a cash bar, and a chance to explore Bush City, Te Papa’s living exhibition.

The performance will last for about an hour – please see the full programme below. The cash bar will be open from 6.45pm to 8.45pm.

Spaces are limited – book your ticket today. We will run a waitlist for the event. 

While this event is part of the Breathe | Mauri Ora Events Season, the exhibition will be closed at this time. Breathe | Mauri Ora is open 10am to 6pm daily, and tickets for the exhibition can be purchased separately. 

Programme

• 6.45pm – Doors open

• 7pm – Performance begins

• 8pm – Performance ends, DJ set begins, cash bar available

• 9pm – Event ends

Artists

Ruby Solly (Waitaha, Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe) is a taonga puoro practitioner, writer, artist, and academic living in Pōneke. She has written two books of poetry, Tōku Pāpā (2020) and verse novel The Artist (2023), which looks at the history of Te Waipounamu from when the world was sung into being and beyond through the lens of cave tohu. Both books were longlisted for the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.

Matariki Bennett (Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Hinerangi) is a 23-year-old award-winning slam poet and filmmaker. She released her first book, e kō, nō hea koe in May 2025. She is a founding member of Ngā Hinepūkōrero, a bilingual wāhine Māori slam poetry collective, who were honoured with Creative New Zealand’s 2021 Ngā Manu Pīrere Award, recognising outstanding emerging Māori artists. In 2023, Matariki was the Wellington Poetry Slam Champion. Whakapapa, te reo Māori, and hītori are the tūāpapa of Matariki’s storytelling.

Mauri Aura is Michael Hiroti (Wear Pounamu – Te Ātihaunui-a-Pāpārangi, Ngāti Apa, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa) and Curtis Lake (Lakeboon – Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Makea Ārera ki Rarotonga, Pāmati). They embody the wairua of Māori ora – a shared experience that intertwines listener and artist. Merging the subtle facets of hiko-waiata and taonga puoro, Mauri Aura serves as a vessel for the life essence that flows through us all – the aura that exists within the relationships between living and natural worlds.

Joshua Toumu‘a is a queer Tongan poet based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington. He won the 2022 Schools Poetry Award, and his work has appeared in Starling, The Spinoff, Arlington Literary Journal, A Fine Line, and other publications. His poetry explores how grief and joy interact in everyday life, and how these forces influence who we become.

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