Skip Content
Johnny Moetara

Taika Waititi said at the Oscars that indigenous people are “the original story tellers” and Johnny Moetara loves nothing more than giving people the skills to tell those stories through art.

Johnny teaches the Level 4 Certificate in Māori and Indigenous Arts programme at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa in Gisborne and says art is a fantastic medium for storytellers.

“You can say what you’ve got to say through the medium of visual arts,” he says.

“The way we tell stories is unique to us and we all have unique stories to tell.”

The 38-week course is at an introductory level and students explore a range of artistic mediums.

“It’s a mixed-media offering of drawing, painting, print making, relief work, there’s a wide range of art mediums you can try.”

He says the course is ideal for those still learning about different art mediums before specialising in one.

“We get tauira who have already learnt their own style to others who have never touched art before but are interested, or not touched art since school. A lot of non-Maori come to learn more about the area,” he says.

He says many students use art as a way of exploring their own identity.

“A lot of people don’t know who they are and are interested in learning about themselves but are sometimes too whakamā to ask, or they’re separated from their whānau, all that stuff is part of their story and we provide a safe space to explore ourselves and our stories.”

“If I have 20 tauira (students), I’ll get 20 different perspectives on any particular kaupapa. It’s awesome, we’re all so different.”

The course is noho-based, held over 10 weekends throughout the year with evening tutorials held during the week, which enable people to attend after work.

And there’s no need to have an artistic background to enrol.

“You just need a story to tell.”

For more information on the Level 4 Certificate in Māori and Indigenous Arts contact 0800 355 553 or visit www.twoa.ac.nz

 Back to news & events

Published On: 25 February, 2020

Article By: Tracey Cooper



Other Articles

  • 27 March 2025

    A whakairo journey shaped by art and community

    Murray ‘Muzz’ Green (Te Kanawa, Ngāti Maniapoto, Whatakaraka, Ngāti Mahuta, Ngāti Te Kiriwai, Ngāti Tuwharetoa, Ngāti Rangitihi, Ngāti Ngutū, Whānau-a-Apanui and Ngāti Porou) left school at 15 when he realised conventional education wasn’t for him.

  • 20 March 2025

    Nāwai i tauira, kua kaiako

    Ahakoa he rerekē noa atu te ao i tipu ake ai a Rob Bromley i tāna e mōhio nei i tēnei rā, nō te ohinga ake, ka rongo ia i tētahi hao ki te reo Māori.

  • 10 March 2025

    Te Wānanga o Aotearoa recognised as leader in Māori HR

    Te Wānanga o Aotearoa was awarded the prestigious Mana Tangata Award at the 2025 NZ HR Excellence Awards on Thursday 27 February in Tāmaki Makaurau.

  • 06 March 2025

    A kaiako who built more than a course

    When Peter Waaka arrived in Queenstown many years ago, with a career spanning government work, hotel management, and Māori development teaching wasn’t on his radar. But life has a way of leading us in unexpected directions, and for Peter, that was helping tauira turn their business ideas into reality.