Celebrating Māori art, history, and legacy

About this episode

Professor Ngarino Ellis discusses her collaboration on the book 'Toi Te Mana' and the significance of Māori art in Aotearoa.

Professor Ngarino Ellis (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou) joins our media adviser Julianne Evans to reflect on her 12-year collaboration with Professor Deidre Brown (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu) and the late art historian Jonathan Mane-Wheoki (1943-2014) on their award-winning book, Toi Te Mana: An Indigenous History of Māori Art. Ngarino also shares insight on how art can weave together different generations and communities, and the importance of Māori art to everyone in Aotearoa. Read more here: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2024/12/02/toi-te-mana-authors-brown-ellis.html Published by Auckland University Press and Chicago University Press, Toi Te Mana won the 2025 BookHub Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction in the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. More about the book here: https://aucklanduniversitypress.co.nz/toi-te-mana/

People in this episode

Host: Julianne Evans

Guest: Professor Ngarino Ellis

Topics covered

• Māori art
• Indigenous history
• cultural legacy
• community
• art collaboration

Keywords

• Māori art
• cultural history
• Toi Te Mana
• art collaboration
• Aotearoa

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Auckland University Press, Chicago University Press

Books & works: Toi Te Mana: An Indigenous History of Māori Art

Places: Aotearoa

More episodes of Research and Reason

• Frontline teaching: The role of educators in warzones · June 3, 2026 · 29 min
• Technology and art combine to explore our natural world · May 19, 2026 · 28 min
• Birds, ancient DNA, and shared histories · April 28, 2026 · 32 min
• The medieval church, slavery and untold stories · March 31, 2026 · 28 min
• The music behind Disney magic · March 10, 2026 · 27 min
• Christmas music through the decades · December 2, 2025 · 32 min