Māhina & Matariki Bennett, New Zealand
He uri ēnei nō Te Arawa, nō Ngāti Pikiao, nō Ngāti Whakaue, nō Ngāti Hinerangi, nō Ingarangi, nō Airana hoki.
We are Indigenous Māori women from Aotearoa, New Zealand. Matariki is a poet and writer, and Māhina is a multimedia visual artist with a primary focus in painting; we are both film makers working as writer/director, and costume designer respectively. We are two sisters who create audio and visual artworks, by combining our practices in a collaborative process. Through our work we explore themes of identity, gender, history, whakapapa (genealogy/lineage), and the lasting impact of colonialism on Māori in our homeland, Aotearoa.
We examine contemporary social issues through the lens of matauranga Māori (Māori ancestral ways of knowing and being), and Māori cosmology and traditions. We use kaupapa Māori methodology which is a self-determination research framework that integrates Māori knowledge, worldviews, language, values and identity with contemporary research and practices critiquing colonisation.
We are Indigenous Māori women from Aotearoa, New Zealand. Matariki is a poet and writer, and Māhina is a multimedia visual artist with a primary focus in painting; we are both film makers working as writer/director, and costume designer respectively. We are two sisters who create audio and visual artworks, by combining our practices in a collaborative process. Through our work we explore themes of identity, gender, history, whakapapa (genealogy/lineage), and the lasting impact of colonialism on Māori in our homeland, Aotearoa.
We examine contemporary social issues through the lens of matauranga Māori (Māori ancestral ways of knowing and being), and Māori cosmology and traditions. We use kaupapa Māori methodology which is a self-determination research framework that integrates Māori knowledge, worldviews, language, values and identity with contemporary research and practices critiquing colonisation.
Māhina holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Auckland, studying part of her degree at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). Māhina is a multidisciplinary artist who works with painting using textiles, drawing, stitching and text. Her work plays with what’s hidden and revealed, inviting the viewer to look beneath and behind layers, and allows the audience to view her work individually and experience collectively. Her paintings interact with light and space conversing and evolving in their environments. For the past 5 years Māhina has worked as a costumer and costume designer for local New Zealand productions and international film and television.
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Matariki has a diploma in Screen Production, Screenwriting and Drama Directing from the South Seas Film and Television School. Matariki’s first book, a collection of poetry titled, ‘e kō, nō hea koe’ was published in May 2025 by Dead Bird Books, and was long listed for the Ockham book awards. She has written and directed short drama and documentary films including ‘kikokiko’, ‘Te Kohu’, ‘Wind, Song and Rain’ and ‘Tōku Reo’. Matariki is a spoken word poet performing locally and internationally, both solo and as a founding member of Ngā Hine Pūkōrero, a bilingual slam poetry team.
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Together they have exhibited audio visual works in collaboration with their brother, Tīhema, in ‘Te Timatanga’ for Auckland Pride Festival, and in ‘Bodies of Woven Code’ at Corbans Estate in New Zealand.
Matariki and Māhina Open Studio - European Heritage Days
Meet Matariki and Māhina at the Atelier 11 Open Studio during the 2026 European Heritage Days on September 19th & 20th.
During their residency with L'AiR Arts at Atelier 11, Māhina & Matariki will work on the project that will explore cycles of life, severing and death. Kiri haehae (skin cut, laceration) is the tradition Māori mourning ritual to externalise internal pain. In Te Reo Māori, Whenua means both land and placenta.
The cutting of our tāngaengae (umbilical cord) is the first conscious haehae (cut) we experience, which is buried with our whenua (placenta) in our whenua (land). This process is resonant physically and metaphorically throughout life. When a person dies, their body is returned to their whenua (both their land and placenta).
‘severing our tāngaengae from the whenua’ is a developing body of mixed-media work, focussed in poetry and painting, exploring what it means to sever the tāngaengae from the earth in consideration of Indigenous peoples displaced from their whenua, and that relationship with increased rates of self harm and suicide.
A poem and a painting for each part of the umbilical cord
anamata, iho, kopū, matā, pito, pīwakawaka, rauru, tāngaengae, uho
We gratefully acknowledge Creative New Zealand Arts Council, whose support has made this residency and event possible.
During their residency with L'AiR Arts at Atelier 11, Māhina & Matariki will work on the project that will explore cycles of life, severing and death. Kiri haehae (skin cut, laceration) is the tradition Māori mourning ritual to externalise internal pain. In Te Reo Māori, Whenua means both land and placenta.
The cutting of our tāngaengae (umbilical cord) is the first conscious haehae (cut) we experience, which is buried with our whenua (placenta) in our whenua (land). This process is resonant physically and metaphorically throughout life. When a person dies, their body is returned to their whenua (both their land and placenta).
‘severing our tāngaengae from the whenua’ is a developing body of mixed-media work, focussed in poetry and painting, exploring what it means to sever the tāngaengae from the earth in consideration of Indigenous peoples displaced from their whenua, and that relationship with increased rates of self harm and suicide.
A poem and a painting for each part of the umbilical cord
anamata, iho, kopū, matā, pito, pīwakawaka, rauru, tāngaengae, uho
We gratefully acknowledge Creative New Zealand Arts Council, whose support has made this residency and event possible.
