Festival of Design Aotearoa Highlights Whanganui’s Heritage of Māori Innovation

Whanganui curators are exploring the city's deep history of Māori engineering and creative adaptation as part of the inaugural Festival of Design Aotearoa. The 10-day festival, which runs until October 25, 2026, celebrates Whanganui's status as New Zealand’s first UNESCO City of Design with more than 50 scheduled events across the region. Eruera Rerekura, the Kaihāpai Taonga Māori (Curator, Taonga Māori) at Whanganui Regional Museum, is set to lead a public talk focused on the environmental knowledge and design heritage found along Te Awa Tupua, the Whanganui River. Rerekura told Local Democracy Reporting that the design of pā auroa (eel weirs), hīnaki (eel traps), and korotete (eel storage baskets) were informed by specific knowledge of river currents and seasonal tuna migration. According to Rerekura, these historical tools serve as clear examples of how mātauranga Māori and collective effort allowed communities to respond creatively to their environment. His presentation will also highlight the cultural site of Pākaitore and its history as a trading ground, alongside the Kāwana Mill as a significant example of Māori enterprise and the adaptation of new technology. The festival includes a two-day international design summit, theatre, and public installations across Whanganui and Palmerston North. Rerekura will be joined by social and natural history curator Maeve Egan to discuss how the ingenuity of previous generations has shaped the city’s identity. The museum’s long-term exhibition, Whanganui Mūmū – Whanganui By Design, further documents this heritage, bridging traditional Māori artistry with contemporary design and architecture. A free public presentation by the curators will be held at the museum’s Davis Theatre on Friday, October 23.