Mahi

One of the largely unseen consequences of the European colonisation of Aotearoa was that the playing of, and knowledge about, the traditional musical instruments of Maori almost disappeared. In the 1970s a young Pakeha schoolteacher, Richard Nunns, started asking questions of his Maori friends about these instruments, which sparked a 40-year journey of rediscovery.

Over that time Richard became internationally recognised as the leading figure in the revival of taonga puoro, alongside musician, composer, and educator, Hirini Melbourne, and master-carver and instrument maker, Brian Flintoff.

In 2014 a book was published that tells the story of Richard Nunns' remarkable journey. Te Ara Puoro reveals how fragments of knowledge given by elders were pieced together through countless presentations and performances on marae the length and breadth of the country, of how the instruments were re-created and developed, and of how Richard subsequently mastered their playing.

Curated in 2014 as an accompaniment to the book (which is, sadly, currently out-of-print), Mahi features 16 pieces of music that offer an engaging overview of Richard's recorded output.