Toni Herangi
Senior Academic Staff Member
Contact info
Phone
Location
About
Awards
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Arts (Māori and Indigenous Arts) – Te Wananga o Aotearoa
- Master of Arts (Media Arts), Painting – Wintec
Areas of expertise
Industry experience, affiliations, and achievements
Research activity
Select publications
What do you enjoy about teaching/your job?
Sharing with others has always been something I naturally
gravitate towards, which has shaped and fuelled my love of teaching. I enjoy
interacting with others through a creative lens, encouraging them to recognise,
acknowledge, and engage with their own creative potential in a way that is
meaningful for them; such conversations help to nurture my own creative
practice.
What do you love about your area?
My expertise lays in the realms of Toi, which I have been
surrounded by and immersed in, for the majority of my life. Engaging in
creative processes through a Toi lens nurtures my sense of identity and
provides meaningful avenues through which to explore various aspects of my
cultural heritage. Within my Wintec role, I am tasked with infusing Mātauranga
Māori concepts into core course content within this academic setting, which has
its challenges. However, through these efforts I endeavour to higjhlight the
depth, value, and potential that engaging with Mātauranga Māori concepts in
relevant and meaningful ways can foster. Although challenging, these
threads merge, forming an interwoven expanse of possibilities; here new realms
of creative potentialities ignite to encourage, challenge, and nurture the
creative growth of ākonga (students)
within a supportive space.
In endeavouring to nurture the creative growth of others, facets of my own
creative passions are nurtured in turn; it is this reciprocality that I
enjoy.
Tell us about your experience in the industry
He ringatoi matarau ahau, I am a multi-disciplanary artist
with over two decades of creative and academic experience. As an indigenous
creative the majority of my industry experience has been shaped within more
culturally immersive spaces. Part of my role at Wintec, is to encourage ākonga
to engage in and with kaupapa utilising Mātauranga Māori as the vehicle, which
are core to my way of being. In the early 2020's, I began teaching at Witec,
where I encourage ākonga to engage with Mātauranga Māori concepts through
contemporary arts. As part of this, I engage in mahi rangahau exploring the use
and potentialities of natural pigments, which I make using organic materials
gathered from various environmental spaces. I use these pigments in a vast
variety of applications, that are inspired by concepts from Te Ao Māori.
What keeps you busy outside of Media Arts?
I enjoy spending time with my whanau above all, hunting,
fishing, foraging, and just generally being in nature. Toi isn't just something
that I do, its woven into every aspect of my life; it not only feed my whanau,
it also nutures my soul. E mihi kau ana