Description:

WHAKA is a bold typographic installation created for Objectspace’s Pohewa Pāhewa Symposium – a kaupapa Māori initiative celebrating Māori design and interrogating Eurocentric design through a Māori lens.

Set against the backdrop of political tensions around te Tiriti and te reo Māori, WHAKA offered a counterspace: proud, provocative, and unapologetically Māori.

The concept plays on the word ‘WHAKA’ and the connotations it comes with, when pronounced in mainstream society.

WHAKA is one of the most common causative prefixes in te reo Māori. Meaning to cause something to happen or cause to be, it is very versatile and can be added to adjectives, statives and verbs. When used, it can give a common, everyday word new meaning and purpose, making it more powerful and persuasive.

The installation brought this idea to life, drawing attention to the richness and versatility of te reo Māori. WHAKA became a call to imagine, to act.

The large entrance foyer wall was covered in a massive WHAKA, anchoring the space and drawing viewers into the kaupapa. Its weight, scale and simplicity contrasted a series of typographic A1 posters lining the walls of the gallery. Each poster explored a different word, starting with the prefix WHAKA – e.g. whakarongo, whakamārama, whakawhanaunga. The type was manipulated – condensed, stretched and skewed – to convey action and tension.

This was not just an installation – WHAKA became a call to imagine, and to act.