Te Rangitawaea Festival 2009

East Coast creativity and innovation will once again be showcased at the upcoming
Te Rangitawaea Festival on Wednesday 16 September in Ruatoria. The annual event has been held since 2004, and celebrates the unique ICT ( Information Communication Technology) skills of Ngati Porou East Coast students.

The theme for this years festival is ‘Nga Pakiwaitara o Ngati Porou’. Films, animations and other forms of digital media have been produced by students to reflect the rich history and stories of Ngati Porou whanau, hapu and iwi. The festival also provides a platform to increase Ngati Porou participation in the Knowledge economy and develop the next generation of talent for the Creative Industries.

The festival is open free to the public and the local community is encouraged to attend the event’s  day time and evening programmes. During the day Ngata Memorial College will provide the venue for an interactive expo featuring digital media created by the region’s schools. Two tech themed competitions will also take place at the same time: The ICT Team Challenge and the newly introduced Guitar Hero Gaming Challenge.
A team of student news reporters will provide coverage from the event and deliver a live broadcast on the festival’s website www.terangitawaea.com

Rising New Zealand R & B/hip hop star J. Williams will also be in attendance at the festival. The “Stand With You,” artist will speak with students about his career composing hit songs and making music videos. J. Williams will also perform a showcase of his work, supported by world class  DJ and producer Peter Chambers (aka DJCXL). Peter is of Ngati Porou descent and was one of the founding members of hip hop group Ill Semantics.

The evening programme of the festival features the prestigious Nati Awards ceremony at Uepohatu Marae. The Nati Awards is an ‘Oscar like’ celebration acknowledging this year’s best student digital media creations across a wide range of categories (including documentary, short films, digital music composition, graphic design). The ceremony will also be streamed live online for those unable to attend.

Festival spokesperson Nori Parata says “this year’s theme really encouraged our students to research oral histories from their area and to interact with those members of their whanau and hapu who look after such knowledge. The Nati Awards is a highlight on the Ngati Porou calendar of events and encourages our young people to re-interpret and re-imagine ‘Nga Korero Tuku Iho’ or Oral Histories through modern technologies.”

The festival is a major focus of the Te Rangitawaea ICT strategy for all 18 Ngati Porou East Coast Schools. The strategy is a sub-project of E Tipu E Rea (ETER), the Te Runanga o Ngati Porou/Ministry of Education Partnership for schooling improvement. The overall aim of Te Rangitawaea is Integrating ICT in all curriculum areas. Its vision is to maintain Ngati Porou East Coast schools at the forefront of education innovation in ICT.