Seb Charles

Processes like making aute nourish your cultural well being and your sense of understanding who you are. When you are bound to a process that is from te ao kohatu, the old world, Balancing time and water in the cells of the aute draws all of your focus. You become like Hineteiwaiwa + Rona Whakamautai and it pulls you closer to the taiao and the atua Māori who guide the way in which we engage with our environment. Any physical process that enables you to become familiar with your ancestors past, present and future allows you to de-centre yourself and glimpse the expansiveness of time and space. Any physical process that allows you to engage in the movements and actions of your tūpuna brings you intimately closer to our living breathing māori world. • This is a short clip from a film made by @sebcharles as part of our Youth Justice Program that @tekurudewes @atarangia and I have been delivering for @artgalleryofnsw led by @wesley_mcleod alongside @georgiataia @niho_koea @sophieetodd @erin.vink It documents an amazing aute wānanga with @atarangia @thi_vaihu @hinerangirhind @haylzk @hmmpaua @h_i_n_e_x ✨

Mokonuiarangi Smith has dedicated his life to uhi. An artistic and cultural pursuit of the once widely practised method of traditional Māori hand tools used for tattooing. He holds lineage to Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Te Roro-o-Te-Rangi and Rongowhakaata. Drawing on traditional aesthetics, Moko is committed to ensuring that the art form is rekindled and normalised for future generations while maintaining the traditional values of his Māori ancestors. He wears an aute maro made by @nikaugabrielle TUKANGA | Streaming now on Māori+ Link in bio 🔺🔺🔺 #tereomāori #art #indigneous #culture #teaomāori #toimāori #aotearoa #nz #maori

Milky Way rising at Mahurangi

The recent passing of my teacher Dante Bonica has made me think about his workshop - Ruawhaihanga. A space mandated by Ranginui Walker to keep the practices of our tūpuna alive. He created a wānanga grounded in tikanga - where this goal was enacted everyday and his generosity and aroha was abundant. Ruawhaihanga is the teaching environment I am always trying emulate for my tauira and pia. In my practice I still staunchly follow the values that Dante instilled in us because to labour and embody the movements of our tūpuna is to create a portal to Hawaiki. 🌀 Dante always emphasised that the level of excellence achieved by our tūpuna was unmatched and so to strive for that excellence is to carry on their legacy of making and be in service to our taiao. It has become clear to me now that because the learning we did with Dante was so embodied, subtle and over many years, the values instilled in me and the ways of working I learned then, have become so normalised and inherent in my practice it is easy to forget where the knowledge transfer stopped and I began. When the aute trees humbles me, or a process I didn’t realise I knew instinctively comes out of me, or years later I suddenly realise my tools need a slight adjustment — I know that is an intuition that was nurtured in me by Dante. And I hope what I give to my students and the environments that I facilitate can someday match that level of wānanga. Because creating and teaching a curriculum reclaiming mātauranga aute is my cultural practice and something that is of as much importance to me as the toi aute I create. ❤️ So as I think about our teacher Dante and all the gifts he gave us, I hope to teach consciously, intentionally, sustainably and with aroha for the next generation of aute makers. Tohu Wairua Aroha Harris @tohu._.harris e tāku pia, e tāku tāura, tēnei te tūmanako ki a whāia e te tāua te mātauranga o tēnei wānanga o Te Whare Pora, i roto i te matemateāone. Haere ake nei. Tina! Kia tina. Ki te Wheiao ki te ao mārama. Tīhei Mauri Ora!

Grateful to my friend @sebcharles for gifting me with his time and heart-driven craft behind the camera 📸 ka nui te mihi e te tuakana ✨ (can’t wait to show my babies and moko these photos one day, alongside some stretch as yarns 😂🫶🏾)

Rākaunui wānanga - this wānanga was woven together with familial bonds, long friendships and mutual respect. so grateful to be able to gather under the pull of the full moon, to imagine new futures and learn from the fibre and tools. It was beautiful to witness the sharing of gifts we all brought to the wānanga. To Celebrate the intergenerational transmission of our tukanga tuku iho in our homes. This wānanga was a new way of working. There is no roadmap for me on this journey of reclaiming mātauranga aute and often it’s been about taking giant leaps of faith into the unknown. It hasn’t always been easy or worked out as planned but you defs know when you’re on the right path. There was so much alignment within this wānanga and I’m so grateful to the beautiful wāhine who all came to share, learn and beat aute together. I feel so encouraged to continue to explore ways of teaching aute that are sustainable and reciprocal. The biggest thank you to my clever and inspiring nieces @tohu._.harris @wheiao_ @e_mcgregor_x - my whānau is my why and creating safe and creative spaces for my nieces is a huge motivation for me. To my friends @thi_vaihu @lil_manu_888 @grace.teuila for your wisdom, steadiness, intellect, perspective, tautoko and aroha. women hold whole worlds together, especially when things are falling apart. gathering to envision and build new worlds is essential and so nourishing. We need each other. Thank you to @sebcharles for these beautiful whakaahua! And your tautoko.

Portrait photography with Les Mills for International Women’s Day. A privilege to photograph all of these wonderful and inspiring women and to produce this campaign alongside @juliezhuu and @caitlinfarnham . @lesmillsnz

2025 was an important year of transformation for me. Everyday I am grateful to have received this taonga. It is a reminder of the great gifts I have received in my life and the responsibilities I carry for my whānau, tūpuna and mokopuna. During the wānanga @lance_ngata said that the real magic happens after you receive your kauae. And he was right. I feel more myself everyday as I grow into the person that I was always meant to be. The magic has just begun and I am looking forward to this new season. 💫 Ngā mihi nui: Credits Moko kauae nā @lance_ngata Photography nā @sebcharles Kahu muka nā @purewa_ Kahu aute nā @atarangia

“Maanuka tomokia, huata hopukia. Toituu te reo taketake o Aotearoa” - Arapata Hapuku Toitū Te Reo Day 2 ☀️ @haututu_creatives @kauwaka.ltd

Raukura Turei (Ngāi Tai Ki Tāmaki, Ngā Rauru Kītahi, Ngāti Pāoa) is a multi-disciplinary artist, architect, and designer. In our documentary series Tukanga, Raukura Turei offers insight into a completely distinct contemporary practice that draws on traditional methods, while carving out her own unique path in toi Māori. TUKANGA | Streaming now on Māori+ Link in bio ➡️ Nā Mātahi Media i hanga, he mea tautoko nā @te_mangai_paho #tereomāori #art #indigenous #artist #aotearoa #nz #culture #toimāori #maori

Aotea Square to Victoria Park March for Humanity. Sanction Israel. Free Palestine. 🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸 @aotearoaforpal

My name is Sebastien and I stand with the people of Palestine. I support the ongoing calls to sanction the apartheid state of Israel as it continues to commit genocide in Gaza. This Saturday at 9:30am we march from Aotea Square to Victoria Park in Auckland City. We march for humanity. For Palestine. For sanctions against Israel and in protest of those who remain complicit including our current government. Choosing to remain silent during genocide only highlights our indifference to the continued raced based discrimination of others. It also fails to recognise that the oppression of one people limits our potential as all people. We have a responsibility to speak truth to power and to speak for those whose voices are being silenced and stolen. Sanction Israel. Free Palestine. March for Humanity Sat 13 September Aotea Square 9:30am Follow Aotearoa for Palestine for all updates and information. Remember to arrive early (before 9am) at Aotea Square and bring water and warm layers. @aotearoaforpal #sanctionisrael #freepalestine