Te Wuruhi Lean Dog

31/10/2021

Pukehuia Park was opened with a beautiful ceremony at dawn, mid-winter. The karakia was by Kura Moeahu who also led the people around the park as the sun rose.

31/10/2021

Pukehuia Park opened in July 2021. We worked with Wellington City Council and Big Catch Creative to create bilingual interpretive panels for the park.

06/07/2021

15/06/2021

04/06/2021

Part of our work on the Pukehuia Park upgrade has been creating bilingual signs for some of the native plants being planted in the park. Here's a sneak peak at one of them. Our 'bullet point' approach for these signs is uncommon, but it's a good way to get across information quickly, and it's easy to read.

04/06/2021

We're working with Wellington City Council to create content for the extension to Matairangi (Mt. Victoria) Nature Trail. We're adding six more activities based around animals native to Aotearoa. The photo shows part of the trail. Nice! Work starts soon.

11/02/2021

Te Wuruhi | Lean Dog strongly supports banning greyhound racing in Aotearoa. We are one of the few countries in the world that still allows commercial greyhound racing. Hundreds of greyhounds are euthanised each year because of injury or because they're no longer profitable. Please help our lean dogs and sign the petition:
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/petitions/document/PET_101334/petition-of-aaron-cross-for-the-greyhound-protection-league

Petitions are addressed to the House of Representatives and ask that the House do something about a policy or law, or put right a local or private concern.

12/12/2020

The artwork for He P**i Taonga i a Māui was created by a group of eight amazing artists. Each episode has a different look. A storyboard was drawn for each episode by Bo Moore, our fantastic animator, and the artist would do a sketch for each frame on which the final artwork was based.

The storyboard for Rata and the Children of Tāne was developed into beautiful artwork by Josh Morgan.

Watch the episode:

https://youtu.be/IHV1GeBFUDY

12/12/2020

The artwork for He P**i Taonga i a Māui was created by a group of eight amazing artists. Each episode has a different look. A storyboard was drawn for each episode by Bo Moore, our fantastic animator, and the artist would do a sketch for each frame on which the final artwork was based.

Check out the storyboard for Ruhia's Lifesaving Cloak and the final stunning artwork by Ariki Brightwell.

Watch the episode:
https://youtu.be/dflxbnQyono

12/12/2020

One reason we made He P**i Taonga i a Māui was to keep alive history for tamariki that was less known, forgotten, ignored, and even controversial. https://youtu.be/7DedagJYRQM

Life in Tūranganui changes forever after a deadly encounter with strange visitors.

12/12/2020

Here's how you play kī-o-Rahi, one of Aotearoa's oldest sports.

A permanent kī-o-Rahi field is being made as part of the Pukehuia | Newlands Park upgrade, a major project by Wellington City Council. We're creating bilingual content for the field and other areas in the park.
https://youtu.be/AdY849Sy_7w

This is a brief overview of how to play the widely renouned ancient Maori sport of Ki-o-Rahi. For a more in-depth view of Ki-O-Rahi, Sport Waitakare holds a ...

12/12/2020

Kī-o-Rahi is an ancient Māori sport. It's kind of like touch rugby, and its rules are based on the legend of Rahitutakahina. The image here shows a kī-o-rahi field.

A permanent kī-o-Rahi field will be made at Pukehuia | Newlands Park for anyone to use. We think it might be only the second permanent kī-o-Rahi field in Aotearoa. Ka rawe! We're helping to create bilingual signage for the field.

12/12/2020

The Pukehuia | Newlands Park upgrade is a major project by Wellington City Council and will transform the park. Visitors will enjoy a nature trail, revamped skate park, wetlands area - and a permanent kī-o-Rahi field. We're helping to create bilingual signage for these areas. As the photos show, it's early days.

12/12/2020

We're working with Wellington City Council and Taranaki Whānui to create bilingual content as part of the Pukehuia Park upgrade. Kura Moeahu (on the right in the photo on the right) performed a karakia to bless the site, and then the ground was turned. Works are currently underway.

12/12/2020

Another episode from He P**i Taonga i a Māui - Ko te Pakanga a ngā Manu! Beautiful artwork by Isobel Joy Te Aho-White.

https://youtu.be/C2OkbMTB6RY

Seabirds and land birds battle over tasty kai! Who will win?

12/12/2020

Good news!

He P**i Taonga i a Māui, te pukapuka, won 2020 Storylines Notable Book Awards, and was shortlisted for Best Children's Book at the 2020 MAPDAs (Museums Australasia Multimedia & Publication Design Awards). Many thanks to the fantastic team at Te Papa Press for producing such a wonderful book.

12/12/2020

Te Papa Press did an amazing job turning the web series into two pukapuka - one in English, one in Māori - and they're absolutely waiwaiā.

Pictured at the book launch are Te Wuruhi | Lean Dog producer David Brechin-Smith, and Ranea Aperahama, senior Kaituhi Māori at Te Papa. Ranea played a major part in the development and creation of the web series. Tēnā rawa atu koe Ranea - we couldn't have done it without you.

12/12/2020

Ka rawe!

He P**i Taonga i a Māui was nominated for Best Children's Programme at the 2020 NZ TV Awards. To all involved in making the series: Tēnā rawa atu koutou!

12/12/2020

Some shots of the panels on top of Mākara Peak overlooking Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington). Christine Barraud created beautiful graphics to complement the bilingual text.

12/12/2020

The Mākara Peak panels sit in a bike chain-inspired design by Clayton McGregor.

12/12/2020

Wellington mayor Andy Foster says a few words at the karakia for the unveiling of the Mākara Peak panels.

12/12/2020

We worked with Wellington City Council, Mākara Peak Mountain Bike Park Supporters, and Ngāti Toa Rangatira to create a unique bilingual visitor experience on top of Mākara Peak.

11/12/2020

Several organisations contributed to the making and success of He P**i Taonga i a Māui. Firstly, we worked with many iwi, who generously shared with us their kōrero and taonga. The series was funded by Te Māngai Pāho and broadcast on Māori TV. Te Papa allowed us to access to its Taonga Māori collection, and the staff were wonderful to work with. And ProductionShed.tv was a terrific production partner. Tēnā koutou katoa.
https://studio.youtube.com/video/9US0eR8Otyo/edit

11/12/2020

We were privileged to work with eight artists on He P**i Taonga i a Māui. A wonderful group of people, who embraced the kaupapa of the series and created amazing artwork.

Clockwise from top left: Ariki Brightwell, Miriama Grace-Smith, Huriana Kopeke-Te Aho, Munro Te Whata,
Isobel Joy Te Aho-White, Te Hana Goodyer, Josh Morgan, Reweti Arapere

11/12/2020

We worked with a group of amazing writers and artists to create He P**i Taonga i a Māui. The series is partially-animated, and we wanted each episode to have a different illustrative style. The images here (one from each episode) show just how diverse the artwork is.

11/12/2020

Te Wuruhi | Lean Dog is proud that He P**i Taonga i a Māui is 100% reo Māori - and that many of the kōrero keep alive history that's not that well-known, or has been forgotten and even ignored. There are 18 episodes - check out Kupe and the Giant Wheke! The stunning artwork in this one is by Munro Te Whata.
https://youtu.be/10WVjZQJwuo

Kupe hunts a hungry wheke all over the Pacific and discovers Aotearoa.

11/12/2020

He P**i Taonga i a Māui (Māui's Taonga Tales) is a web series created and co-produced by Te Wuruhi | Lean Dog (with ProductionShed.tv).

Māui, the great Pacific hero (played by the awesome Kahukura Royal), tells well-known and not so well-known tales from Aotearoa and Moana-nui-a-Kiwa. The kōrero are based on amazing taonga in Te Papa's Taonga Māori collection. Keeping history alive!
https://youtu.be/9US0eR8Otyo