Let The Dead Speak: Kia Kōrero Te Hunga Mate. Writing about ancestors or other figures from our pasts necessitates a collision between history and imagination. How much dramatic license can the creator have – be they novelist, historian, poet, musician or filmmaker – in depicting events they weren’t present at, in imagining conversations they never heard, in evoking the thoughts and emotions of those they never met?

Esteemed historian Hirini Kaa (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu, Rongowhakaata) meets a dynamic range of creatives to discuss how they’ve navigated these very questions in their work: Whiti Hereaka (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Arawa), winner of the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction for Kurangaituku; Tim Worrall (Ngāi Tūhoe), filmmaker and author of 2024’s Ka Whawhai Tonu – Struggle Without End, set during the New Zealand Wars; and singer, poet, musician and author Ariana Tikao (Kāi Tahu). Book here.

Immerse yourself in the soul-warming waiata of Arts Laureate Ariana Tikao (Kāi Tahu), with the sparkling fingerstyle guitar of Jon Hooker. This is a rare opportunity to hear Ariana and Jon as a duo in a small, intimate venue. Cloisters Studio | From $20+BF*. Bookings recommended.

As part of Te Matatiki Toi Ora, The Christchurch Arts Centre’s Matariki Festival.

Get cosy by the fire and listen to some star-filled poetry by Ōtautahi-based creatives, their words woven with the mesmerising sounds of taonga puoro. Featuring Isla Huia (Te Āti Haunui a-Pāpārangi, Uenuku), Josiah Morgan (Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Maniapoto), Danielle O’Halloran (Samoan, Pākehā), and Ariana Tikao (Kāi Tahu). Part of the Christchurch Arts Centre’s Matariki Festival. Great Hall | From $15+BF. Booking recommended.