Te Matatini Society Incorporated | HUIA PublishersCelebrating 50 years of Te Matatini
Mā tini, mā mano ka rangatira a kapa haka – kapa haka flourishes through the efforts of many.
He Tau Makuru: 50 Years of Te Matatini National Kapa Haka Festival is an illustrated history tracing the story of Aotearoa's national kapa haka festival across 24 events and half a century. Built from personal recollections, archival material and contemporary photography, it's as much an oral history as a visual one — a celebration of language, culture and identity as much as competition.
Creative thinking
Kapa haka is a traditional Māori performing art form that is emotionally and spiritually charged – the power of the language, the intensity of the voices, the fierceness in the eyes and postures are intimidating and yet completely beautiful with the flow of dance, rhythmic swing of poi and graceful hand movements. That feeling set the tone for the book and drove the design for this pukapuka (book).
Creative doing
The content takes the reader through fifty years and 24 festivals, and the design needed to carry the triumph, humour and pride without ever settling into a static rhythm. Photography, typography, pull-out quotes and white space were all carefully considered to shape that journey.
Creative partners
Delivered in close collaboration with Huia Publishers' in-house editorial and production teams, whose deep relationship with Te Matatini and its contributors shaped the book's structure.
Printed with Blue Star commercial printers.
The outcome
Despite an incredibly tight turnaround, the book came together as something genuinely lasting. One of Huia's directors – someone who lives and breathes kapa haka said it best – this book will become a taonga, a treasure, for many. Given the speed the project demanded, that response made every late night worth it.
Purchase or learn more at HUIA Publishers.
