Te Maire Tau - My cultural highlights of 2024

Tuesday, 24 December 2024

Historian Professor Te Maire Tau says his most significant event of 2024 was Ngāi Tahu hosting the Kingitanga at Tuahiwi.

The Press_ has asked a few of the Mainland’s leading figures to tell us what they enjoyed watching, listening to, reading, and experiencing during 2024._

Professor Te Maire Tau is an historian of Ngāi Tahu descent and is the ūpoko of Ngāti Tūāhuriri.

Reflecting on 2024, he says: “This year's most significant event was Ngāi Tahu hosting the Kingitanga at Tuahiwi. All our hapu supported. Food came from all over the Island. Bluff sent thousands of cream cakes. And then they brought up their kai moana.

Professor Te Marie Tau speaks during Te Pūnuiotoka, the national hui held in October at Tuahiwi Marae in North Canterbury.

“It was our tribe at its best.”

What book, or books, did you particularly enjoy this year? I read a lot. There are books everywhere. History dominates. I am re-reading Emily Wilson’s translation of Homer’s Odyssey. I just finished Peter Ackroyd's The English Soul and David Kynaston’s The City of London. A few others are running along.

But for fiction, I’ve just read Daniel Silva’s A Death in Cornwall. It was good to see Gabriel Allon saving the world again.

Tau thinks the recently released Cure album, Songs of a Lost World, is superb. File photo of Robert Smith, lead singer for The Cure.

Which film, or films, stood out for you? I watched Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche in The Return last month. I named my son after Achilles, so I loved Greek mythology and Homer. It was a grinding, bleak movie, but it left me thinking for quite a while later.

“That swagger won't be seen again,” Tau says of rock band Led Zeppelin and his go-to favourite The Song Remains the Same.

Was there a stand-out TV show you would recommend? It’s the usual series everyone watches - but I’ve always liked Justified and Longmire.

Do you have a favourite poem, or poet, from 2024? My wife, Gabrielle Huria, is launching her poems in a book called Pakiaka. It captures a moment in our tribal memory that’s passed on.

What podcasts did you discover in 2024? I am trapped in an algorithm of people I don’t particularly appreciate because I watch them to know their thoughts. Now I don't want to know about them. But I think The Listener is back in form and is a really excellent read.

Tau says Marian Maguire’s artwork is at the top of his list for 2024.

What new music, or old favourites, did you have on high rotate this year? The Cure’s Songs of a Lost World is superb. Smith is an artist who’s found his voice again and managed to speak to his generation about the present.

The standard go-to will always be The Song Remains the Same. It is Led Zeppelin at their best, and that swagger won't be seen again.

Tell us about a memorable meal, or restaurant experience from 2024? Easy, Black Estate, North Canterbury, with our First Nation guests from British Columbia. I can’t think of a better restaurant in New Zealand.

What was your favourite art exhibition, or piece of art you saw this year? Marian Maguire (PC Gallery) is at the top of my list. I’ve enjoyed her changes and He Kapuka Oneone - A Handful of Soil - Christchurch Art Gallery, Waiwhetū.

What was your best live show, gig, or theatre of 2024? The Christ Church Choir from Oxford University at Rāpaki Marae. It was a lovely day when they offered to perform and help fundraise for the Rāpaki Schoolhouse. Nuk and Christine Korako were superb hosts and supported by Haydn Rawstron and the John Robert Godley Memorial Trust.

Finally, is there a cultural event you are looking forward to in 2025? For Ngāi Tahu, it will be the High Court case for water, which starts in February and runs through to May.

Share your 2024 cultural highlights in the comment section below.