Tūī creations - A Te Tangi a Te Tūī inspired art project

Baycourt is proud to present Te Tangi a Te Tūī – an epic tale of love, loss, and hope, weaving together te reo Māori and cirque theatre.

He karanga nō te kainga. Pulling us heart first back to the ngāhere.

Created in collaboration by Te Pou Theatre and The Dust Palace, Te Tangi a Te Tūī invites you to experience an enchanting and empowering Māori cirque theatre work about adaptation and authenticity. It is an allegory for the past and future of Te Reo Māori; telling a story of loss that te reo Māori narrowly avoided and the journey young people now face to bring the reo back to their family lines. Find out more about the show.

Baycourt and Toi Tauranga Art Gallery have teamed up to offer local rangatahi a chance to engage with the themes of the show, explore their creativity, and connect with the kaupapa well before they attend the performance. We want to hear your voice and celebrate your creativity as we come together to experience this special piece of theatre.

Join our flock

We invite you to design your very own tūī – inspired by the magic and themes of the show. Your colourful creation will join a whole flock of tūī from all over the city, coming together in a bold and beautiful display at Baycourt’s foyer. Anyone can participate in this art project and below is everything you need to know to get you started.

Let your imagination take flight and be part of something amazing that everyone will get to see!

Getting started

Watch the how-to videos in English or Te Reo Māori
Download the instructions and the template for the head, tail & wings
Gather your materials
Create!

Younger artists? We've got you covered with an all ages version of the instructions.

Deadline for submission

Drop off your tūī: 
Mon 28 Jul – Fri 01 Aug, 10am–4pm
Baycourt Community and Arts Centre,
38 Durham Street, Tauranga

Submit as many tūī as you like, just let us know when you register how many we can expect.

School registration

Individual registration

By registering, schools are also eligible to receive a hand-delivered Classroom Kit with all the materials needed to make your tūī.

Classroom Kits include:

Written instructions in English or Te Reo Māori
Templates for the head, tail and wings
Paper plates
Stick-on gems
Specialty paper and more

For teachers

Once registered, and Classroom Kits delivered to you; we recommend breaking the project into three sessions — making it easier to manage and hopefully resulting in higher quality outcomes. The sessions could be:

Body, head, and colour
Written element
Wings and tail

Feel free to make substitutions and adaptations wherever you’d like — for example, if you don’t want to use Sharpie where that’s been mentioned, you can use any other material you want. We are happy for you to take creative license.

Please note that we encourage the use of the Classroom Kits. They're the easiest way to get started, as they've got everything you need, all in one handy bundle.