The community art studio will continue under the name Toi Tatou Va. Photo / Supplied
The community art studio will continue under the name Toi Tatou Va. Photo / Supplied
Tokoroa's community art studio Tatou Va has been successfully whipping up art hurricanes in the South Waikato for almost a year and will continue to do so without its founder Leafa Wilson.
Wilson (also known as Olga Krause) set up the studio as part of her role as South Waikato's cultural activator to help locals rediscover and celebrate their creativity.
Over time, Tatou Va developed a life of its own and will be continued by a newly established group of artists under the name Toi Tatou Va.
Wilson's role was funded by the Ministry for Culture and Heritage (Manatū Taonga) for a year as part of the Creative Arts Recovery and Employment fund programme, but now her contract has come to a close.
Wilson says: "The cultural activation role was created to enable people to rediscover and learn to celebrate their creativity and tell their own stories. Now - they can tell their own stories."
South Waikato was one of eight regions identified by the Ministry of Culture and Heritage to have a huge lull in funding uptake and arts activity post-Covid-19.
Creativity and arts were already happening behind closed doors but lacked a space to bring it all together, a space where people felt comfortable to express and experiment.
That's where Wilson came into play. She found a space at 212 Rosebery St in Tokoroa, the old fish 'n' chip shop, which seemed perfect.
"It already looked like a gallery because the landlord had recently done it up," Wilson says.
"Quite often arts spaces are for the privileged, middle to upper-income people ... They have the confidence and the art education to go and do something that resembles a studio."
Cultural activator and Tokoroa local Leafa Wilson. Photo / Supplied
Wilson says thanks to Tatou Va, other artists from different paths now had the confidence and networks to run a creative space.
"It's not about me - I was just there to spark a fire and them to keep the fire going ... it's for them to say this is ours."
Apart from regular art circles, Tatou Va organised several exhibitions and events. Their Matariki event Matariki Ki Tokoroa celebrated a big success with an exhibition, local stories, history, Kuki Airani drumming, music and artwork.
However, the moments when members of the community came to Wilson to rediscover their creativity are what she remembers most.
"[I] heard a woman knock on the door [one day] and say, 'I want to learn how to paint'," Wilson says.
The woman knocking on the door was Marama Talbot, a previous art school attendee. Talbot led a life of almost complete isolation, mostly staying inside and doing next to nothing.
It wasn't until she read an article about Wilson and the studio in the paper that she said to herself 'I am going to paint'.
Tatou Va's Matariki ki Tokoroa festival in June celebrated a huge success. Photo / Supplied
Since meeting Wilson, Talbot hasn't put a paintbrush down and even became part of the artists continuing Wilson's legacy at the new community-run studio.
Wilson says: "Not me - THEY decided as a group that this was the new direction that would go towards their own vision. Which was the point of my role, to bring people to a point where they could see themselves doing it - and they did it."
The remainder of the Ministry for Culture and Heritage funding will go towards rent and power in the studio.
Wilson's role was hosted by Creative Waikato which successfully applied to the Ministry for the funding.
Wilson, a Tokoroa local of Samoan descent, is a multimedia performance artist, art curator and writer. She worked at the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato as an art curator for 17 years.
