Once I danced with a shaman, a new poem written in Bali

Once I danced with a shaman
She had bangles from wrist to elbow
And she jingled
And she jangled
Her dark eyes were black pools
Of secret knowledge
Other worlds
And deep magick
She pulled me in with the rhythm
Of her body and her magick bracelets
We twirled and swayed
We laughed and laughed
High on something else
On what I am not sure
But I liked it
Our souls understood each other in that moment
Languages different from the tounge
But on that dance floor
We riffed and debated
Conversated
And demonstrated
What it was to connect on another level
Ancient beats
Simple
Uncomplicated
Listen and feel
Move
Feel the joy
And surrender
Thank you to that woman
For liberating me in that moment
She guided me into surrender
And I experienced other worlds
In her twirling twirl
Her toothless smile
Wide all encompassing heart
Black eyes
And abandoned laughter
I did not know her name
Or her village
But I will never forget her
Could have been 111 years old
Or maybe 11
Doesn’t matter
She changed something in me
That night on the dance floor
I remembered something I had long forgotten
And I’m grateful
A relief
A soothing balm
May her and her ancient ways never come to harm
Straight out the jungle for a moment in time
And now she returns
And now we all return
But we remember

The 'Māori Modern' exhibition opening recently in Perth, Western Australia

On Saturday 6th January the 'Māori Modern' exhibition opened in Perth, featuring the work of ten different Māori artists including myself. All of the tickets for this exhibition opening sold out and I was happy to perform some of my spoken word poetry at the opening event too.

The exhibition is showing until 10th February 2018 and viewing is by appointment, please contact The Sound Temple venue directly if you wish to arrange a time to view this exhibition.

Many of the works shown in these photos are also available to purchase online here.

'What's happened here in Australia?' another new poem that I recently performed at the exhibition of 'Māori Modern' in Perth

Land stolen
Generations
Nation after nation
Coming to Australia
Everyone's getting paid yeah?
Except the aborigine
Like the Māori
Modern
From New Zea-land
Cash in hand
Original man left thinking
What about my land?
Stolen
Into a system
Stolen
In sin
Stolen
It was so grim
Stolen
Generations
What's happened here in Australia?
Gold, pink diamonds, aluminum, iron ore
More, more, more
Gimme more
But we want more!
Killed with legislative law
Legal atrocities
Remember please
Over 150 years
Bringing the murder, abuse and the beers
So many real fears
When your children and grandchildren, sisters, brothers, fathers, mothers
Are classified as just some flora and fauna
And we all know what they do to the trees here
Deforestation
Degradation
Original ancient people
I mourn with ya
The modern Māori remembers
In the land of milk and honey
It was not funny
When aborigines
Were legal to kill
And now even still
We remember
Who we are
We remember who you are

'Rise sister rise' a new poem

Here's one of my new poems that I performed at the exhibition opening for 'Māori Modern' in Perth recently.

Rise sister rise
And rise again
Put down the pain
And rise sister rise
Heal the wound
Look to the moon
The sun
The earth
And the stars
All of which you are made of
Your body
Made up of the love of thousands
A reflection of your ancestors
So rise sister rise
To spite everything
And because of it
Rise sister rise
Now is the time
E Hine, Rise
E Hine, Rise
E Hine, Rise

The second 'Wāhine Power Circle' special event in Perth, Western Australia

Last Sunday I ran the second 'Wāhine Power Circle' event at The Sound Temple in Perth, Western Australia, with invited co-facilitators Sofia Tuala and Jerome Kavanagh.

It was a fabulous day and some great connections were made.

There were tears, breakthroughs, laughter, letting go of the old, singing, calling in the new, sisterhood, empowerment, snacks, herbal teas, sound healing, guided affirmations and so much more!

THANK YOU TO ALL THE AMAZING WOMEN WHO ATTENDED!

Reflecting on the opening of my solo exhibition 'Purapura Whetū' in Perth, Western Australia

'Call on them and they shall appear'.

I have books coming out soon!

Live taonga pūoro at the opening night created a wonderful ambience.

Big thanks to everyone that came along to the opening night at The Sound Temple!

'Hiwa i te rangi, your hearts desire'.

'Our ancestors watch over us'.

It was a great feeling finally have my first solo show after all these years of being a working artist!

Big thanks to The Sound Temple for hosting the exhibition.

'The people of the rainbow gather'. SOLD.

'Celestial Connections' SOLD and 'Star Seeds' on the right.

I love doing large scale paintings! The more I do, the more I want to do!

Spoken word poetry performance at the opening night, with taonga pūoro accompaniment by Jerome Kavanagh.

'The many radiant descendants'.

Giving an artist talk on all the paintings and the concept for the exhibition. 

Leading 'The Wāhine Power Circle' in Perth, Western Australia was so much fun!

On 13th July 2017 I facilitated my first 'Wāhine Power Circle' four hour event in Perth, Western Australia at The Sound Temple. Around fifteen wāhine of all ages, from all walks of life and from different cultural backgrounds, came together for the afternoon to share, learn, heal, transform and participate.

Designing, creating and facilitating my own events is something that brings me a lot of joy, and I have a lot of fun with it! It was so easy and natural for me to lead and share in this way, and I felt right in my element making this event happen with these women.

We gathered around the fire, performed our own 'letting go and releasing' ceremony before we went ahead and then called in what we wanted to manifest in our lives, and set some new intentions for the future. We entered The Sound Temple and received a taonga pūoro healing sound bath from taonga pūoro practitioner, Jerome Kavanagh.

We shared a delicious organic afternoon tea together, surrounded by nature.

We adorned ourselves.

We shared kōrero, exchanged stories, songs, haka and karakia (prayers). 

We learned about the lessons that the Atua (goddesses) and Tūpuna (ancestors) Māori, Papatūānuku, Hineahuone, Hinetitama, Hinenuitepo, Hineraukatauri and Niwareka, have to teach us in this modern world that we live in.

Every women in attendance also received a free art print.

'The Wāhine Power Circle' was held inside the 'Purapura Whetū' exhibition which is showing at The Sound Temple until 13th October 2017.

This event was very popular and there will be more 'Wāhine Power Circle' events coming up in future at different locations around the world! I will most likely have new packs of my popular oracle affirmation cards included in the ticket price of future events.

Join my mailing list if you would like to keep up to date on when this event may be coming to your town! Details of all upcoming events will always be posted on my events page too.

Thank you so much to all of the beautiful strong women that attended this event!

FEEDBACK FROM SOME OF THE PARTICIPATING WĀHINE AT THIS EVENT:

'Loved every moment! Thank you Taryn.'
- Shelley Stewart

'What a blessed time! Much thanks for sharing your hearts work Taryn.'
- Chrissy Whitehead

'It was a truly magical day.'
- Rae Brown

'Thank you Taryn for such a special day. I loved every minute.'
- Rebecca Joyce

'AWESOME day. I highly recommend the work of Taryn Beri. Powerful and really insightful.'
- Helen McKenzie

'Thank you Taryn for holding the circle today...and for your fearlessness. So inspiring. Beautiful blessings and gratitude.'
- Kim Echammaal

'Incredible, incredible, incredible! Thanks for coming out of the hedge and joining us centre stage in your life, we embrace you, we see you, we love you, divine feminine energy following your true hearts desire with pure intention, thank you Taryn Beri.'
- Dawn Steel

'Manu Ariki' limited edition prints now sold out

This limited edition run of 50 limited edition A3 art prints have now sold out.

Thank you to everyone that purchased one!

My first solo exhibition 'Purapura Whetū' opens on 13th July in Perth, Australia

Having my own solo show has been on my mind for the past couple of years, so I am thrilled to finally be doing it next month in Perth, Australia! More details about the opening event on 13th July 2017 will be coming soon.

As the exhibition will be showing for a long time (three months) I am also planning on having at least one other special event in the exhibition space at a later date, after the opening. These special events will most likely include live spoken word poetry readings and taonga puoro sound experiences, among other awesome stuff I am yet to cook up!

Big gratitude goes out to Dawn and John at The Sound Temple! The venue is truly beautiful and unique and I am honoured to be hanging my work in the space for three months!

If you are in the Perth area I hope that you are able to get along and check it out with your friends and whānau!

New original paintings to be exhibited at Karanga Ink in Auckland this month

Painting in Bali, Indonesia.

Two of my new original paintings will be exhibited at Karanga Ink this month in the upcoming exhibition 'Whitu ngā whetū' in celebration of Puanga/Matariki season.

I am thrilled to be invited to exhibit alongside some amazing artist whom I admire greatly.

If you are in Auckland, go and check out the exhibition on 26th June - 2nd July 2017.

A Māori Art + Music Salon in Amsterdam, The Netherlands

On May 30th, 2017 I was thrilled to be involved in a Māori Art + Music Salon in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, alongside some of my favourite artists and cultural practitioners, Julie Paama-Pengelly, Pip Hartley and Jerome Kavanagh.

Thanks to Manifacto Amsterdam for hosting us, it was a fun night!

More info about the event can be found over on the Toi Tangata Māori Art Gallery page, here.

Traditional Tattoo & World Culture Festival: Palma de Mallorca (Spain) we're coming for you!

Looking forward to attending the Traditional Tattoo & World Culture Festival at Palma de Mallorca (an island off Spain). I will be attending this awesome event with a roopu of about 12 other Māori tā moko artists, mirimiri + rongoa experts, a taonga puoro expert and a pounamu carving expert.

After this 8 day event our group will then be travelling to Amsterdam in The Netherlands to work at a convention there, and some of us will also be running an exciting Māori Art + Music Salon in Amsterdam. You can buy tickets for this private and intimate evening event in Amsterdam, here.

A Polynesian in Indonesia, my first trip to Bali, Island of the Gods

In November 2016 I spent three weeks with my partner in Bali, a place I have been wanting to visit for a long time! I really loved it there and hope to spend a lot more time there over the coming years. Their wood carving and stone carving is amazing. I especially loved Ubud and Amed. It was awesome getting to buy some local art materials (all kinds of gold pigments) and having the chance to do some painting while I was there. We met some really awesome people.

I also found it interesting how some Te Reo Māori words were the same or similar in Indonesian/Balinese.

Exhibiting at Tāneatua Gallery and meeting Tame Iti + a new poem

In February 2017 I traveled to Tāneatua Gallery with the Toi Wāhine Collective to exhibit some of my digital works and paintings. I also gave a spoken word poetry performance in the gallery - my first time doing anything like that. It was great to meet Tame Iti and Trina who run this awesome community based space. If you are ever in the area I highly recommend that you visit Tāneatua Gallery.

Here is a poem that I wrote in reflection AFTER my time at Tāneatua Gallery, which I then performed at Pātaka Museum + Art on Waitangi Day 2017.

Talking decolonisation
Talking no discrimination
Talking sovereignty
With Tame Iti
When I was his manuhiri
At the dope ass Tāneatua Gallery
Where it's all about the community
The community
Took a cruise down to the valley
In Ruatoki

Talking sovereignty
What does it mean to me?
It means the right to be free
It means possessing the key
To my own front door
Hey we deserve more
Time to get off the floor
And lift up the poor
We deserve more

When the Toi Wāhine Crew
Come though
Bringing the new
Yo we do the do
Coz talk is cheap
And whining is weak
Who got the guts to really speak
To the issue
Bullying psychophants hear me diss you
When I put on display
My art from the heart
I cause disarray
Nerves they will fray
And haters gon pay
Come what may
You heard me say!

It's an indigenous uprising
And it's not surprising
That when we come together
Coz we so very clever
Native nation to nation
In the spirit of collaboration
And innovation
Motivation
Lets save the nation
Oh the anticipation
Of this new proclamation

It's an indigenous evolution
Revolution
Around the world
Racist haters can get twirled
Like Beyonce said
When she killed them all dead
With her 'black lives matter'
Time to reduce the chatter
Call me a mad hatter
While the rich get fatter
Time to flip the script
Improve the derelict
Change negative into positive
Time to do that for our kids

Me and my neonatives we come quick
To the mark
Straight to the heart
Can't tear us apart
When we stand united
Can't be divided
Indigenous people around the world
We will be heard
Return of the bird
This is my word

Indigenous people we will be heard
Won't be deterred
A new paradigm
Is about to be birthed
Time for us to come first
Because oppression is the worst
In all of it's forms
Time to smash all of the norms
Don't ever ask me to conform
Make you wish you weren't born
We gonna rewrite all of those laws
That came from foreign shores
Get ya dirty paws
Off my art and culture
These fucken vultures

The dawn of a new era
Is getting clearer

Decolonise your mind
One thought at a time
 

One of my digital works in the exhibition.

A digital installation I made for this exhibition, with help from my friend Sian.

Two of my paintings in this exhibition.

Tahiti was magical, my first time visiting French Polynesia + a new poem

In February 2017 my partner and I spent a magical week in Tahiti. Visiting Taputapuatea and Raiatea was a real highlight and special moment in time for me. Catching up with a friend who is a leading Tahitian tatau specialist was enlightening and fun too, and I learned a lot! I hope to spend more time exploring French Polynesia in future.

Here's a poem that I wrote when I was in Tahiti, inspired by what I saw, felt, learned and experienced there.

Niu life
The foundation
Lay it right
And your life will flourish
This land does nourish
Everything it touches

Coconut bread
Coconut milk
Coconut flesh
Coconut candy floss
Nature is the boss

Magical plants
Fish in the spring
I can hear the tūpuna sing

Spring water
In it, I have a shower
This land has power

Burn the fire all day long
In paradise
Oh it's so nice
I can't complain
I don't complain
You shouldn't complain either

Tama tū tama ora
Work and sweat in the heat of the day
This way of life is a good way
Go to bed when the sun goes down
Wake up with the sunrise
And listen to the birds cries

We have everything we need here
This rangatira told me
Not ariki
But rangatira
With dirt on his hands and machete

We need very little money
The fenua provides all the food you need
And a house for you and your family
What more could you want?
When you're living in paradise

Nature people
Nature man
He has a GOOD plan
To live off the land
He's planting his trees
Pulling the weeds
And saving his fees
From the tatau of the tūpuna he sees
I see them too

Everything we need is right here
In this land
In these trees

Rebel against the system
Save your money so you can be independent
And free
Don't be greedy

Time goes so slow
No stress
Taro ice-cream and banana pie
How many different varieties of bananas?
And mangoes?
What day is it?
How long have we been here?
Doesn't matter

All that matters is what kind of food shall we gather
And prepare together
With these grateful hands
For our next meal?

I can climb this maunga like my tūpuna before me
If they can do it, so can I

And so we did

'Kaitiakitanga' by Taryn Beri. Wai (water) and manu (bird) designs feature in this artwork about the importance of caring for our natural environment. We must all be kaitiaki (guardians) of the earth, water and entire natural world if it is to continue to support life as we know it. The manu (bird) designs in this artwork can also symbolically represent significant kaitiaki (guardians) for the owner/viewer of the work. Click on the image to buy your own 'Kaitiakitanga' canvas.

2017 art calendars SOLD OUT, THANK YOU!

Thanks to everyone that purchased a 2017 calendar! They are now all sold out. Mauriora!

'Sovereign' limited edition art prints now SOLD OUT

Limited edition of 10 signed A3 sized art prints featuring the 'Sovereign' design now all sold out.

Thank you to everyone that purchased!

'Do you think you're better than me?' a poem about Māori hating on other Māori

Here's a poem that I wrote some months back after witnessing several instances online of Māori hating on other Māori and ripping each other to shreds over various things in various ways. 

To me, we have enough battles outside of Māoridom to fight on a global scale as indigenous people and I do not believe in or support such attitudes and actions of hatred against anyone, let along against ourselves. In my opinion, cases of Māori hating on other Māori only weakens us all as a whole. As the saying goes, 'united we stand, divided we fall'.
 

'Kaua e whakaiti te tangata'

Do you think you're better than me?
With your university degree
Telling you how to be Māori
Oh the elitist snobbery
Well this is a free country 

And this is a contemporary
Generation
One Māori can never represent the entire population
I said this is a contemporary generation
And it's all about participation
Innovation
Not degradation

You think you're so traditional
Victoria Institutional
That's delusional 

The judge the jury and the hangman
Who gave you the mana
To whakaiti te tangata?

Your ego seeks to put down
In order to raise yourself up
From the gutter
Go ask your mother
What makes you Māori
She'll tell you
First it's whakapapa
It's whakapapa
It's whakapapa 

Got cousins in Australia?
Course you do
How do you think they'd take ya? 
Down on your knees
Stuck in jealousy
Pointing the finger
You're not a good Māori!

Aue te puhaehae
In the heart of the one on high
Get down off your pedestal
And peel some fucken potatoes

How deep is your matauranga
When you seek to shame another? 
How tika is your tikanga
When you laugh and mock
The one that most needs your manaakitanga? 

How tika is your tikanga?
How tika is that tikanga? 
What the fuck is that tikanga?

Kaua e whakaiti te tangata

Kei whea tou manaakitanga?
Or were you sick
On the day
They delivered that paper?

The opening of the 'Hine Raumati' exhibition by the Toi Wāhine Collective at Pātaka Art + Museum in Porirua, Wellington

'Hine Raumati' new exhibition opening soon with Toi Wāhine Collective at Pātaka Art + Museum

Looking forward to the exhibition opening of 'Hine Raumati' on 10th December 2016 showing in the Tangerine Room at Pātaka Museum + Art until 24th December 2016.

Featuring works by:
Robyn Kahukiwa
Xoe Hall
Miriama Grace-Smith
Sian Montgomery-Neutze
Sophie Jolley
Pikihuia Haenga
Isobel Joy Te Aho-White
Vianney Parata
Paretapu Waru
Kaea Graham
Keri-Mei Zagrobelna
Taryn Beri

Poster design by Xoe Hall.

For more info visit www.toiwahinecollective.com.