As Director Ngā Toi Māori, Mere Boynton programmes Māori content across all Tāwhiri platforms. She knows exactly what will make this year's Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts so special.
I have had a love affair with Wellington since 1985, always working in the arts as an arts producer or artist, making and creating space for Māori and indigenous artists.
When we rebranded the festival to be the Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts, I knew we had to come out strong and develop a programme that was representative of a new Aotearoa New Zealand paradigm, based on equity and mana ake i te tangata. The arrival of Covid-19 and the inability to accept large scale international workers created an opportunity to focus on works from mostly Aotearoa New Zealand.