Hariata Moriarty

Through her kaupapa Hurō, Hariata seeks to create an energising and impactful stage play that encourages Māori rangatahi to take agency of their lives.

Hariata’s moemoeā…

Hurō is a two-person energising and impactful stage play that encourages Māori rangatahi to take agency of their lives. The kōrero within the play is realised through actual research processes, our own lived experiences, and secondary accounts of other people’s lived experiences gained through wānanga and kōrero. We hope this play may empower Indigenous audiences and also speak to universal truths.

We have begun the research process by engaging with three colleges and asking the rangatahi patai about their understanding of the socio-political climate of Aotearoa, their position as Māori, the dreams of their tūpuna, what kind of world they would like to leave behind for their mokopuna and whether there are barriers facing this/barriers to achieving their potential. Extremely loaded patai! We provided kai, karakia, and koha to the rangatahi that took part. We have now reached the point where the kōrero that was collected is utilised to draft a script that is based on their true lived experience. The goal is to stand up a play that can be taken to theatre venues in NZ, as well as high school and wharekura so an option of the play in complete te reo Māori is also needed. After each performance, the audience is invited to take part in a wānanga style kōrero.

The award would enable this process to continue. The arts are a vehicle for social change and rangatahi are our future. If they can be inspired through the whakaari to take charge of their lives then it will have completely served its purpose. We want rangatahi to leave feeling like they believe in themselves, and ko te ao kei o rātou ringa. In addition, the wānanga space created after the viewing of the whakaari allows for deep connection and creates and strengthens community.