Hine Pūrākau brings Poetry Slam to Te Tairāwhiti

Story by Aimee Milne

“Ka ora ngā tāngata i te pūrākau, ka ora te pūrākau i ngā tāngata” 

People are healed by the story, and the story is healed by the people

- Hine Pūrākau 

Writing stories is nothing but human connection. Sharing your personal story; the good, the obstacles overcome, the deepest fears, the greatest hopes, the grief and shame, allows other people to relate to your humanness. Not everyone will accept your vulnerability without judgment so it’s an act of bravery to tell your story anyway. 

When I met Rahera and Matawai Solomon I was disarmed by their authenticity. I walked into the interview tired and middle-aged but I swear I walked out younger, revived by the passion of this dynamic young couple new to town. They have separate stories that are rich on their own, but woven together, they become more brightly textured. You find yourself leaning in, wanting to hear what comes next. The couple had a creatively catalytic meeting 6 years ago on a dating app which has enhanced both their lives and their individual talents.

Matawai is from here, he uri nō Rongowhakaata me Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki. Talent runs in his family, you’ve probably seen his musician dad around town, T Bonez Entertainment (Thomas Solomon).  As a kid, Matawai grew up in various places. France and Australia included. At school in Australia he enriched his predominantly white classmates by teaching them kapa haka. He is a natural performer and from a young age he was starring in plays and winning talent quests and dance competitions. 

Rahera is from Rotorua but has Ngāti Porou nui tonu, Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti whakapapa and was also performing from a young age. She shared the stage with Suzanne Prentice and Frankie Stevens as a young singer and she writes her own songs, poetry, and plays. Her most recent work in progress is a play about her non-verbal takiwātanga (autistic) son. The play has no dialogue but uses taonga pūoro (traditional Māori instruments), physical gesture and expression. It is currently in development and (hopefully) we will be the lucky first audience when it is ready.

Rahera is an easy conversationalist and her honesty is refreshing. Childhood trauma derailed her life for a few years, but she successfully completed an 18 month stint in rehab for drug and alcohol addiction and has been in recovery ever since. Matawai was still actively drinking when he met ‘the love of his life.’ “It could have gone the other way,” says Matawai “I had a box of beers and she was going to have one. I didn’t want her to relapse, so I told her no.” Then he realised that he didn’t like his own behaviour when he was drinking either, so he quit alcohol and joined Rahera in recovery. This is the power of story and connection. Young humans pulling each other up to the next level. And they want to lift up other rangatahi too. 

Rahera worked as an addictions counsellor and has designed a communication workshop called Hine Pūrākau. She and Matawai will be running the first workshop on Saturday 24th of Jan at 100 Grey St, level 2. It is free to attend and is open to all. The workshop is about communicating difficult conversations, or just improving communication in general. Couples, workmates, managers, whanau, anyone is welcome! Hine Pūrākau as the name suggests is entwined with story. Their work blends ‘indigenous wisdom, trauma-informed practice, lived experience, and creative storytelling to support intergenerational healing’ and reconnection to self, whānau and origin. You can read more about it on their website and Facebook. 

As if that’s not enough goodness for us, Rahera and Matawai will also be running a poetry slam night. Again, everyone is welcome, especially rangatahi who write. Whether that be song writing, rap or poetry. You don’t have to perform but you will be in for a treat. You’ll have the privilege of seeing the recent regional winners, and finalists of the national poetry slam competition perform (Wellington Poetry Slam). That’s Rahera and Matawai. Like I said, they’re talented. Ridiculously talented. 

That was their first time entering the competition, but they noticed there was no other representation from Te Tairāwhiti, the closest was Te Matau a Māui/Hawkes Bay representatives. With that in mind they aim to give the talent here a space to build and to help encourage more locals to enter the Wellington based competition. If you want a safe space to perform, or just to soak up some of that youthful, optimistic passion, come along to Gizzy Local on Thursday January 22, from 6pm-8pm. 

WORKSHOP registration here

POETRY SLAM registration here