TALK: level up: an intergenerational discussion
There is something not only overwhelming but also comforting in hearing women talk about their experiences over breakfast. It is a combination of feeling that you are not alone but also partial discomfort in knowing that as well.
Below is a bit of a summary on what everyone touched on:
Lexi Matheson – Be respectful when you don’t understand. Be brave. Stand up and speak. When you say you have someone’s back, really have it.
Alyssa – Connection during covid and hard times. How to consider talking with people dealing with mental health.
Justine Smith – Sexual Harassment in comedy spaces. Reframe funny. Stand up for other women
Gabriella Brayne – How to reclaim whakapapa and unpack internalised colinisation. Face into that bravely and ask what needs to be asked.
Qiane Matata Sipu – Infertility for indigenous women. Thinking about ourselves as tupuna and what are we creating for the future.
Becki Moss – How much we normailse pain in the experience of womenhood. Huge issue for women in the health space and dealing with doctors.
I think it was incredible to see the Arts Festival provide a platform for these stories and see the crowd dive into it more with their questions. It is a korero that needs to continue to happen.
POETRY: Wāhine Toikupu
This was another breakfast event but this time, we were there to hear poetry by the amazing Dr Maya Angelou. You could say it ties in with the previous event in a way as Dr Maya Angelou has a way with words about her experiences. The difference is, the poems would be read in English and in Te Reo by a range of different speakers. But not only were the poems in Te Reo, a lot of the korero around the poems was too. Being Maori myself, but not fluent, it felt so lovely being surrounded by people speaking the Reo. One of the speakers touched on this and how the use of Reo will continue to encourage others to but also help those who are learning or at different stages in their journey.
When the first poem you hear in the morning is ‘Still I Rise’ in Te Reo, it really feels like you’re starting your day walking in to power. Well it is how I started my day.
