Toi Matarau

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Toi Matarau Emerging and high profiled artists of traditional and contemporary toi Māori.

Meet Jennifer Kenny from Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Mutunga ki Wharekauri, Te Rōroa. Based in Whanganui, Jenny paints about e...
14/10/2026

Meet Jennifer Kenny from Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Mutunga ki Wharekauri, Te Rōroa. Based in Whanganui, Jenny paints about everyday life and family activities.

Jenny is our third great reason why you should visit Toi Matarau. Why is that?

Jenny is another artist connection initiated by Garry Nicholas, one of our most dedicated champions of arts leadership, management and governance across Aotearoa. We are always looking to grow and strengthen the Māori and Indigenous arts community!

'Movin In' is a hearty, endearing series of acrylic paintings invoking lots of fond memories about life and growing up in Aotearoa. Visual storytelling evoking shared past times we can all relate to one way or another.

Jenny Kenny

'Kākahu' by Nyle TuruwhenuaEvery now and then, Toi Matarau receives an artist referral from other artists, whakawhanaun...
12/10/2026

'Kākahu' by Nyle Turuwhenua

Every now and then, Toi Matarau receives an artist referral from other artists, whakawhanaungatanga at best!
Many thanks to Darcy Nicholas for making a special connection with Nyle Turuwhenua during the Wellington Art Show earlier this year. Another Ngāi T1uhoe artist representing the whārua of Te Urewera.

Kākahu is influenced by Nyle’s weaving practice depicting kākahu she has woven. The tactility, the handmade and the act of labour involved in both printmaking and weaving, as well as the idea that every thought, feeling and emotion is woven into each kākahu.

Nyle’s unique flair adds a wonderful layer to Nō Tāukiuki. Where the transition of traditional Māori art forms such as Raranga from long ago are interconnected with contemporary Māori art applications like printmaking.

Introducing Nyle to our community is the second most important reason to visit Toi Matarau, so come and see for yourself, online or instore!

Nyle Turuwhenua. Fine artist Nyle.

🌙 Child of a Moon, Daughter of a Shaman 🌙 Muu Shuubun 🌙 And The Cycle Repeats 🌙 As Conscious As One 🌙Introducing the art...
06/10/2026

🌙 Child of a Moon, Daughter of a Shaman 🌙 Muu Shuubun 🌙 And The Cycle Repeats 🌙 As Conscious As One 🌙

Introducing the art of Juhyeon Yi drawn from traditional Buryat patterns with Animist, Shamanist themes and the South Korean Minjung art movement, combined with traditional Korean and Chinese temple patterns.

Celebrating our newest Indigenous artist and the first of five great reasons to visit Toi Matarau.
Come on over and see the enchanting, rich artistry of Te Whanganui a Tara based digital illustrator - Juhyeon Yi.

A proud, young Buryat Kori, Khamnigan from South East Siberia Russia, Korea, and Manchu China.

Our connection with Juhyeon began earlier this year during the Māoriland Film Festival when a certain stand out festival intern by the name of Ezra Jones Moki (Juhyeon’s flatmate) brought to his attention an animated Buryat short film titled Baigal Nuur, directed by Alisi Talengut.

The experience of seeing his people on the big screen sharing their stories of whenua and whakapapa, was tremendously uplifting and transformative. Most of all inclusive of the wider Indigenous world of storytelling. This is how magic happens weaving the connections of our ancestors together into our whare.

주현 | ᠣᠶᠤᠨᠳᠠᠯᠠᠢ Ezra

Kua Tau. A book by Tainui Stephens. In store now 🙌🏾
06/10/2026

Kua Tau. A book by Tainui Stephens. In store now 🙌🏾

TONIGHT 6pm.“When we’re young, we learn the stories of others.When we’re adults, we create our own story.When we’re old,...
30/09/2026

TONIGHT 6pm.

“When we’re young, we learn the stories of others.
When we’re adults, we create our own story.
When we’re old, we tell our story.”
Join us to celebrate the launch of **Kua Tau**, a collection of Tainui Stephens’ writing drawn from his much-loved essays for E-Tangata.
Across stories of whānau, whenua, reo, tikanga, identity, leadership, racism, grief and joy, Tainui reflects on the people and experiences that have shaped Māori life, and shaped him.
Warm, honest and deeply grounded, Kua Tau is a celebration of the stories that connect us and make us whole.
Come along for an evening of kōrero, storytelling and connection with one of Aotearoa’s most respected storytellers.

Gift the gift of uku. So many incredible pieces in store at the moment. Fiona Bryant Tahuone and Jean Kahui
29/09/2026

Gift the gift of uku. So many incredible pieces in store at the moment. Fiona Bryant Tahuone and Jean Kahui

Getting summer ready. Māoriland “Tino” linen shorts and surf pōtai. With Numa Mackenzie “Cook the Captain” tee.Available...
22/09/2026

Getting summer ready. Māoriland “Tino” linen shorts and surf pōtai. With Numa Mackenzie “Cook the Captain” tee.
Available in store and online 🫶🏽

Kia toi te reo Māori. 🌿Day 6 of Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, we come to Whiro Feels — created in wānanga with Whiro. Within t...
18/09/2026

Kia toi te reo Māori. 🌿

Day 6 of Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, we come to Whiro Feels — created in wānanga with Whiro.

Within the maramataka, Whiro marks the beginning of the lunar cycle: a time of darkness, stillness and the unseen. From this space comes reflection, intuition and the potential for new beginnings.
Natasha’s work explores the connection between creativity, ancestral memory and the unseen world. It reminds us that te reo Māori carries more than words — it holds mātauranga, relationships, observation and ways of understanding our world.
Throughout this series, we’ve looked at the words woven through Māori art and discovered that sometimes a single kupu can open a much deeper story.

Natasha Keating
Reo Māori

Kia toi te reo Māori. 🌿 Day 5 brings us to He Kiri Tuna — a title that captures the feeling of an encounter with tuna em...
18/09/2026

Kia toi te reo Māori. 🌿

Day 5 brings us to He Kiri Tuna — a title that captures the feeling of an encounter with tuna emerging from the darkness at first light.
He kiri tuna — “eel skin” — speaks to their slippery, moving presence, while the words themselves evoke the mystery and life held within the waterways of Aotearoa.
Through ink and paint, the work captures a fleeting moment where people, water and the natural world meet.
Rīhari Warnock

Reo Māori

Kia toi te reo Māori. 🌿Day 4 brings us to Divide and Conquer — a title that speaks to separation, power and the struggle...
17/09/2026

Kia toi te reo Māori. 🌿
Day 4 brings us to Divide and Conquer — a title that speaks to separation, power and the struggle for Māori representation.
Spanning 1867, 1975 and 1993, the work reflects on key moments in the history of Māori voting rights in Aotearoa and the ongoing journey toward representation and self-determination.
Here, the language of the title carries another layer — words becoming a way to question history, power and who gets to have a voice.

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68 Main Street
Otaki
5512

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 4pm
Tuesday 10am - 4pm
Wednesday 10am - 4pm
Thursday 10am - 4pm
Friday 10am - 4pm
Saturday 10am - 4pm

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