Meet AAF Kaihautū Māori, Ataahua Papa

Ataahua Papa joined Auckland Arts Festival as Kaihautū Māori / Director of Māori Programming and Language in August 2020, bringing with her a wealth of knowledge about tikanga Māori along with an impressive background in the arts as a practitioner, performer and more recently, an organiser.

Ata leads AAF’s Toitū Te Reo programming, a language plan that upholds the mana of te reo as a taonga and integral part of daily life. She is fluent in te reo, and prior to joining the Festival was Festival Director at Matariki Festival, as part of her role as Arts & Culture Pou Arahi Māori at Auckland Council.

Working as a cultural consultant on Māori and indigenous issues, Ata lived in North America for over a decade, and has done everything from delivering powhiri on behalf of the UNDP to serving as the Māori cultural adviser and language teacher to the Pacific curator at the American Museum of Natural History (NYC) and guest starring with the First Nations Women's A Cappella Trio, Ulali.

Find out more about AAF’s Toitū Te Reo programme here.

For media enquiries related to Toitū Te Reo, or to interview Ata email our Communications Manager sarah.illingworth@aaf.co.nz

To contact Ata directly, email ataahua.papa@aaf.co.nz