ahead of first holiday
The exhibition made up of three interactive parts including past, present and future was blessed this morning by mana whenua.
Te Papa kaitiaki and design team lead Crystal Jones said the first part focuses on the star "Pōhutukawa" and looks at remembering those who have died in the last year.
"You come up and you push one of the buttons and you think about the person or people or say their names out loud. In historic times, you would call their name out to the stars and Pōhutukawa would take your loved ones away."
There are nine lights in the first portal to represent each star that makes up the star cluster Matariki.
The second portal looks at the present and how visitors may plan to spend and celebrate the te ao Māori public holiday.
It includes many strands of different coloured wool to represent the rays of the stars shining in the sky.
Exhibition experience developer Murphy Peoples explained the idea was for visitors to grab a piece of wool and connect it around different pictures to show how they would like their Matariki to go.
Link to article:Te Papa opens interactive Matariki exhibition ahead of first holiday | RNZ News
