The Kit programme is led by the Kaiwhakamahiri Pirihi Taiwhenua Curatorial Intern and is located on the lower ground floor of Artspace Aotearoa.

Rerekē. Different, unusual, abnormal, changed. This kupu was used by Māori artist and academic Bob Jahnke, when he coined three toi Māori categories. Alongside toi tūturu (customary Māori art) and toi whakawhiti (trans-customary Māori art), toi rerekē (non-customary Māori art) pulls the furthest away from a traditional physical form while remaining grounded in whakapapa.

Rerekē is the programme by Emily Lyall, the 2026 curatorial intern. Encouraging artists working today to push themselves to ask: why do we do the things we do? Rerekē instigates a conversation between the artist and questions the constraints established by the way things are and have come to be accepted. Could the response be to be bold, be weird, be different?

Ringatoi Māori work within a pressurised context, confined by a Pākehā idea of what they and their art should be and scrutinised by their own people. Criticism of motives, tikanga and what is right or wrong creates an environment of constraint. This has inspired Rerekē, a programme where boundaries can be pushed.

Through wānanga, events, exhibitions and more, Rerekē creates a place for artists to challenge themselves, each other, and the ecosystem. By spending a year together, where weirdness is encouraged and differences are celebrated, what might be discovered?

The curatorial internship is supported by Creative New Zealand Toi o Aotearoa 2025–2027.

The Kit is located on the lower ground floor of Artspace Aotearoa, accessible through the carpark at 8 East Street.