| | Learning Together in a Wananga Setting | |

This week on the #ReadswithRosaPodcast I sit down for a korero with Māori artist and carver Ngaroma Riley.

I met Nga here in Japan when I joined the Nga Hau e Wha kapahaka group, so this was a pretty special episode! It was so good to reconnect, and an honor to have her on the show to share her story.

Ngaroma began her carving journey making buddhist statues while living and working in Japan, and has played a huge role in building community and fostering connections between Māori and Ainu. She returned home to Aotearoa in 2020 and in 2022, she made her first public work as part of a team who built a Tomokanga in Kaitaia &. was shortlisted for the Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award in 2023. She is the project coordinator and one of the co-founders of the Shared Lines Collaborative, and in January this year, she curated an exhibition of Ainu art held in Wellington and Whangarei. Ngaroma’s work ‘Portrait of the Artist as a Karetao’ is currently being exhibited at the HOEA! Gallery in Gisborne.

Follow Ngaroma:

•   IG: https://www.instagram.com/ngaroma_riley

•   Website: https://www.sharedlines.org

•   Linktree:   https://linktr.ee/ngaroma

•   Ainu Collaboration:   https://www.sharedlines.org.nz/current

Follow Rosa:

•   @readswithrosa on all digital platforms

Subscribe to the #ReadswithRosaPodcast:

•   ⁠⁠https://youtube.com/@readswithrosa