Opening a window on world of Maori

Ans Westra in front of a photograph she took in 1962 at the coronation celebrations of King Koroki. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Veteran photographer Ans Westra was in her 20s and a recent arrival to New Zealand when she was invited to Turangawaewae Marae to capture life on film.

The year was 1962 and the reigning Maori monarch of the time was King Koroki.

For Westra, who came to New Zealand in 1957 from Holland as a 21-year-old and was supposed to stay for just six months, it was an "exciting opportunity" after her visit to Waiwhetu Marae in Lower Hutt a couple of years earlier.

"I photographed Maori a little but it was mainly for the tourists and then I realised there was a world behind the scenes," she said. "In those days so many Pakeha had never been on a marae and didn't know what it was or anything about the Maori world."

Westra was yesterday rubbing shoulders over a cup of tea with the Maori King, Tuheitia, at the opening of her exhibition Turangawaewae, Te Papa Nekenekehanga a te tini a te mano: Ans Westra Photographic Exhibition.

The exhibition marks the 80-year commemoration of the meeting house Mahinaarangi, which was built in 1929 under orders from Princess Te Puea.

On display are dozens of pictures Westra took at various hui held at Turangawaewae Marae between 1962 to 1964, some of which were later used in her book Maori, published in 1967.

"These were interesting times," she said.

"At the time so many Maori were moving from the country to find work in the towns ... you could see people in the city being quite lost but here it was different.

"Maori were almost encouraged to move away from going to hui and tangi because it would set them back in their work."

The exhibition is open to the public and runs daily until March 21 at Turangawaewae Marae.