Ki Mua, Ki Muri

Cassandra Barnett is an author and artist of Raukawa, Ngāti Huri and Pākehā descent who writes poetry, essays and short fiction about cultural and ecological futures. Her work is published in many journals and anthologies of creative writing and art criticism, and she has appeared at many art and literary events and festivals both in Aotearoa and abroad. Cassandra has a PhD in art writing and philosophy from the University of Auckland and a Master’s in creative writing from Victoria University of Wellington. She worked as an art theorist and lecturer from 2003 to 2018, at institutions including Wintec, Hamilton; Unitec (including the Awatoru programme), Auckland; and Massey University, Wellington. She is a founding member of the Wellington-based publishing collective Taraheke, and in 2022 she was the Auckland Regional Parks Artist in Residence at Anawhata. In 2023 Cassandra relocated to her home rohe of Waikato, where she is now co-editing a book of the whenua stories of her South Waikato hapū. She is a trustee for Matariki ki Waikato and is currently a pouako (educator) at Te Whare Taonga o Waikato Waikato Museum. Kura Te Waru-Rewiri (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu, Ngāti Rangi, Ngāti Kauwhata) studied fine art at Ilam School of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury. After graduating she studied at teachers’ college and then taught art in schools, tertiary institutions, universities and whare wānanga. She was a founding member, in 1987, of the Te Ātinga Committee Toi Māori. In 1993 she and Selwyn Murupaenga were the first Māori appointments to the Elam School of Fine Arts. Kura moved from Elam to teach on the Toioho ki Āpiti Bachelor of Māori Visual Arts programme in 1996 and taught there until 2006. In 2015 she led, and was a major artist contributor to, the refurbishment of the Northland Polytechnic marae whare Te Puna o Te Mātauranga, making her one of the only wāhine Māori to lead a whare project. In 2017 she returned to Papaioea as programme lead at Toioho ki Āpiti. Kura’s work is held in collections in both Aotearoa New Zealand and overseas and she has been a key contributor to contemporary Māori exhibitions both in New Zealand and abroad. In 2019 she was recognised with the Te Waka Toi award Te Papa Tongarewa Rongomaraeroa for an outstanding contribution to ngā toi Māori. Kura’s focus is also on supporting marae, hapū and iwi toi developments for Ngāpuhi and Te Tai Tokerau artists. She is the chair of the Mangaiti marae trust, and a board member of Te Rūnanga o Whaingaroa. She is also director of Toi Ngāpuhi.

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