Whakakite Nga Taonga Pūoro - Revealing the Singing Treasures

Ma whero, ma pango ka oti ai te rangi.

With the red and black the work will be complete.

Kia ora, my name is Alistair Fraser and I am a performer, maker and independent researcher of ngā taonga pūoro, Māori musical instruments.

I have been awarded a 2016 Churchill Fellowship to research and examine collections of taonga pūoro held in museum collections abroad.

The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust award covers 2/3rds of my budget to successfully complete this project and I am seeking help to fund the remainder.

In September 2016 I will travel to the UK and Ireland to research taonga pūoro collections held in ten museums there. Many of these instruments are held in museums that are less known and are held in 'back of house' storage. As such, these are rarely seen by the public and many have not yet been examined by taonga pūoro researchers.

I will measure and photograph these taonga and distribute this research through public talks and through the Haumanu network of taonga pūoro revivalists.

In 2015 I had the opportunity to examine back of house collections at British Museum, Oxford Pitt Rivers Museum, Horniman Museum and Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. I have distributed this research which has stimulated much discussion.

I also hope to play and record these taonga.

These taonga tāwhito need to be 'kept warm' and played so that their voices can be heard again.

In 2015 I released an album of recordings of the taonga pūoro held at Okains Bay Māori and Colonial Museum and I crowdfunded 200 CDs which were donated to the museum as a fundraiser.

Much can be learned about the construction of these taonga by playing them.