Toioho ki Apiti - Bachelor of Maori Visual Arts

11/09/2026

Our 30-year celebration exhibition has started to come down this week, but this new window work by our own art athlete, Ephraim Russell, has gone up in the Te Pūtahi-a-Toi rūnanga room! ✨



Ringatoi 𝕰𝖕𝖍𝖗𝖆𝖎𝖒 𝕽𝖚𝖘𝖘𝖊𝖑𝖑

19/08/2026

Nau mai , haere mai ki te Rā Whai Wheako o Toioho ki āpiti ki Turitea

Come to the Toioho ki Āpiti Experience Day at Massey University, Palmerston North.

We warmly invite anyone with a passion for Māori art to join us at Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa, Massey University for the Toioho ki Āpiti Experience Day.

Where: Te Pûtahi a Toi. Bourke Road, Turitea Campus, Massey University, Palmerston North .
When: Friday 28 August 2026
Time: 10:00am – 2:00pm

The Experience Day is an opportunity to explore what the Bachelor of Māori Visual Arts at Toioho ki Āpiti has to offer and to learn about the support available for all students, Māori mai , Pākehā mai , Tauiwi mai.

You'll meet current tauira and kaimahi , connect with other rangatahi from schools and kura across the region, hear about student experiences, and have the opportunity to ask questions about studying at university and future pathways.

A light lunch will be provided. When registering, please let us know of any dietary requirements. You're also welcome to bring your own lunch, and we encourage everyone to bring a reusable drink bottle.

Please register individually to attend the event. You can register by clicking eventbrite link in our bio.

https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/toioho-ki-apiti-experience-day-tickets-1994259507872?aff=oddtdtcreator

27/07/2026

27/07/2026

As we celebrate this milestone, we acknowledge the vision, dedication, and collective efforts of everyone who has contributed to the legacy of Toioho over the past 30 years.

Watch the story below and join us in celebrating this special anniversary.

Mauri ora!

04/06/2026

It was so special to see so many Ihu Pūta and Toioho ki Āpiti whanau whanui return to the whare, share stories, and celebrate Toioho together.

If you missed it, the exhibition remains on display for the next two months. Head up to Te Pūtahi-a-Toi, grab a map, and follow the trail through the building to experience more than 60 artworks spanning three decades of Toioho.

Heaps more photos to come.

📷 Image credit: Ephraim Russell, The Whare Wānanga That Bob Built, 2026, mixed media.

02/06/2026

Ihu P**a 30 – B. Mari Ropata-Te Hei

Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Raukawa, Te Ātiawa ki Whakarongotai, Ngāti Toa Rangatira
BMVA Graduate 2013 MMVA 2022

B. Mari Ropata-Te Hei’s artwork explores kaupapa Māori through whakapapa, mātauranga Māori, tikanga Māori, and the intergenerational transmission of knowledge. Central to her practice is Te Taiao, reflecting our responsibilities as kaitiaki to nurture and protect the living relationships between whenua, wai, ngahere, moana, while leaving a legacy for future generations of tamariki mokopuna.

Alongside her creative and research practice, Mari currently teaches within the Kaupapa Māori immersion Teacher Education programmes Te Aho Tātairangi and Te Aho Paerewa at Te Pūtahi a Toi, Massey University. She also completed a Master of Māori Visual Arts at Toioho ki Āpiti in 2022. Her current installation work explores kaupapa Māori values and the reclamation of mātauranga Māori through contemporary materials. Through her teaching, she is cognisant of the importance of teaching her student teachers the importance of visual language and recognising it as the primary communicative form for Māori, where meaning through imagery and artistic expression for narrating whakapapa, histories, and mātauranga preceded that of written language.

“Toioho ki Āpiti has taught me that creative practice is inseparable from my whakapapa, my community and responsibility within my whānau, hapū and iwi. What has stayed with me most is the importance of grounding art in kaupapa Māori and allowing my stories, our stories, histories, and tikanga to be expressed in new and dynamic ways.”

“Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua.”

02/06/2026

Exhibition opens tonight!

This exhibition celebrates three decades of Māori visual arts education. Featuring 60+ artworks.

Nau mai, haere mai. Join us for an evening of art, kōrero, and celebration.

Opening: Tonight, 4.30pm
Venue: Te Pūtahi-a-Toi

29/05/2026

Ihu P**a 28 – Tapirioterangi Pirikahu
He Rua au, He Rauru au, He Awa au
BMVA Graduate 2017

Tapirioterangi Pirikahu is a multidisciplinary artist whose primary focus is painting. Her creative practice is grounded in pūrākau and whakapapa, drawing from the stories and memories passed down through her nana and koko. For Tapirioterangi, art is a process of shapeshifting between realms, carrying and transmitting knowledge for future generations while strengthening connection and empowerment within her people.

Following the completion of her Bachelor of Māori Visual Arts, Tapirioterangi dedicated herself to researching sites of cultural significance and taonga within Ngā Rauru. This work involved direct engagement with the landscape, including ascending pā sites to better understand their histories and contexts. As part of this process, she utilised drone technology to document and analyse these sites through aerial imagery. Alongside her painting practice, she has also taught tukutuku through Ngā Rauru Manu wānanga and mana whenua eco-sanctuary wānanga.

Tapirioterangi has contributed to the Māori Art Market, the Tūheitia Portraiture Awards, and a range of exhibitions and collaborative projects. She also worked as a coordinator for Whanganui Windows, delivering the street art initiative alongside a collective of wāhine Māori artists. She is currently focused on her mokopuna, Tangahoe, including supporting him at kōhanga reo, while continuing to create part-time within her practice
“What remained with me was the importance of applying diligence across every aspect of one’s practice: talent alone is insufficient; it is equally important to be able to articulate one’s mahi. I encourage tauira to make the most of their Kaiako; they are prolific artists, and you are surrounded by excellence”

29/05/2026

Current Toioho ki Āpiti students exhibition - Toitū Toioho opened tonight at Square Edge Arts Centre.

One of the many moving parts of our 30-year celebrations, this exhibition brings together current student work across a range of practices and perspectives.

The exhibition is up for the next month, so head down and check it out.

28/05/2026

Ihu P**a 27 – Mahaki Akauola
Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, Ngāti Porou, Tonga
BMVA Graduate 2016

Mahaki Akauola is an artist whose practice explores stories and narratives connected to kaupapa both past and present. His work is grounded in storytelling and the ways stories carry knowledge, memory, and meaning across time. Through his art, Mahaki is interested in how visual language can communicate and hold kōrero in meaningful ways.

His current practice focuses on contemporary design and whakairo, while continuing to reflect the whakaaro and narratives that shape his communities and experiences.

Mahaki is currently the Senior Leader of Learning, senior pastoral at Te Paepae o Aotea. His mahi is centred on giving back to community and supporting rangatahi through education and the arts. Alongside teaching art, he is focused on helping create opportunities for tauira and encouraging them to strive toward their goals and futures.

“I arrived wanting to make art. I left knowing why I make it. Toioho ki Āpiti taught me how to think more in depth, feel deeper, and trust that not knowing can be the start of making something.”

We’re proud to celebrate Mahaki as part of our celebrations.