A Japanese Theatrical Producer's Encounter with Kapa Haka: Māori Performing Arts, Education, and a Democratic Community in the Making in Today's Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

This thesis presents my autoethnographic exploration of educational meanings of Kapa Haka in today's Aotearoa New Zealand. Kapa Haka is the contemporary term used for Māori performing arts, which has become very popular especially among Māori. Through my experience of learning Kapa Haka under an expert teacher and through conversing with kaiwhakaako Kapa Haka (teachers of Kapa Haka), I examined diverse aspects and roles of Kapa Haka. I then related my findings to the ideas of ‘education for democracy’ (Nussbaum, 2010) and the making of ‘democratic communities’ in public spheres (Berry, 1989; Greene, 1995; Zuidervaart, 2011). The thesis argues that two primary purposes exist for practising Kapa Haka in Aotearoa New Zealand today, both of which function as acts of decolonisation and democratisation. Firstly, Kapa Haka retains and revives te reo Māori (the Māori language) and tikanga (cultural protocols), and it provides Māoridom with a “public sphere” (Habermas, 1991) where Māori people celebrate their cultural identity, their diversity and foster family-like communities. Secondly, drawing on Zuidervaat’s (2011) concept of “art in public”, Levine’s (2007) notion of the “alternativist”, and Greene’s (1995) concept of the “social imagination” this thesis suggests that Māori performing arts could become an effective and nonthreatening vehicle for all New Zealanders to learn about te Ao Māori, the Māori world. This is framed as a further act of decolonisation and an opportunity for Aotearoa New Zealand to develop its bi-culturalism in a meaningful way and strengthen its democracy.