The Māori Expo this week has been hailed in advance as a celebration of indigenous success and achievement, says a professor in Māori innovation and development at AUT University.
“It's an expose on everything that is positive about Māori education and scholarship," says Professor Tania Ka'ai.
A celebration is taking place at Auckland’s Vector Arena on Thursday.
A community event dedicated to celebrating, inspiring and empowering Māori youth to achieve their goals in education and in the future, the expo is expected to attract more than 30,000 people during the day.
According to organiser and sponsor AUT University, the expo is the largest celebration of Māori achievement in all fields – cultural, political, sports, education and the arts.
The theme of this year’s event is “Kia tū kia māia - seize the day”, a reflection of the positive message of empowerment for Māori youth that AUTstaff say the event promotes.
“The event celebrates success and inspires Māori youth to think about their futures. It encourages them to aim high and puts them in touch with exemplars and role models from Māoridom”, says AUT communications manager Lara Posa.
Big whanau
“No matter what Māori Expo means for you, everyone who attends will be inspired, encouraged, excited, and empowered, and will leave feeling part of the huge whanau that is the Māori Expo," she says.
Started by the AUT council and leaders of Māori staff who wanted to inspire the Māori community to be in education and encourage them to achieve their goals through tertiary study, the Māori Expo has been running since 1995. It is a biannual event.
It is a flagship event, conceived to balance negative stereotypes about Māori in mainstream media and as a celebration of all things Maori.
The event incorporates sports stars, debates, fashion, career planning and Māori arts and music.
While a broad mix of ages and ethnicities is expected and encouraged, the event traditionally has a young and brown demographic skew.
Research at the 2009 event recorded 80 percent of respondents as being 30 years or younger, with 65 percent aged 16-20 years old.
As would be expected at an event dedicated to celebrating Māori, the same research found that 79 percent of respondents said they belong to the Māori ethnic group, and 80 percent agreed that the AUT Māori Expo was important for celebrating and experiencing Māori culture.
More details
Pacific Media Centre
