HAKA! Speaking with every move

Event Introduction:

Check out HAKA! an exhibition at the Auckland Centre of the National Library.

Note:  we are closed on Labour Day, Monday 24 October.

If you think that haka is just about a stirring start to a rugby game, check out HAKA! an exhibition at the Auckland Centre of the National Library on Stanley Street.

HAKA! provides an opportunity to increase understanding that haka extends beyond the sports field and is deeply embedded in Māori culture, language, and identity. Haka brings visitors on to a marae; celebrates a wedding; marks death at a tangi; delivers a message to the authorities; recalls an important event; challenges an opponent. Where something important is to be said, haka helps say it.

HAKA! shows photographs from the rich collections of the Alexander Turnbull Library alongside some great film footage and audio from a range of sources to show the tradition of haka and its continuing central importance in today’s world.

Images of the Maori Battalion haka for the King of Greece in Egypt and the 1905 “The Originals” All Blacks performing before a test against England, contrast with contemporary shots of haka from the modern All Blacks and the winning 2011 Matatini kapa haka team in full flight.

Haka experts add their insights to the exhibition. Professor Tīmoti Kāretu explains haka as a message, born of the soul, spoken by the mouth and given full expression to by the body.

Any school group is welcome to visit and explore the exhibition. Please book first by contacting Leah Porter 09 365 8837 or Leah.Porter@dia.govt.nz

See some of the images that will be included in the exhibition. Go to HAKA! at National Library.

HAKA! is in The Window at the National Library in Auckland from 5 September 2011 and concludes 5 April 2012. The Window is at 8 Stanley Street, Parnell, and is open from 10am-6pm, Monday to Friday. It is free to enter and all are welcome.

For a map showing how to get to the Auckland Centre and where parking is located click here (PDF). The Auckland Centre is also on the Link and other bus routes, at the bottom of Parnell Rise.