(Pu)oro

Source of Vibration

Urban Dream Brokerage, 17 Tory Street, and online
November 15th – 17th

Poet and musician Ruby Solly has an exhibition coming up to help her fund raise to write a book version of her doctoral thesis on the use of taonga pūoro in hauora / health.

“Pūoro is often referred to as music, but really it is so much more. It is the origins of sound in all its forms, it is the resonation of sound through all things until it can no longer be heard, only felt. It is a continuous mihi oro to the song that began our world. It is so many things intertwining, so many sounds that have the potential to help, to heal, to uplift, and to release. It is a music that weaves together the ‘musical’ and what comes before, the primal melodies and rhythms of our survival as Māori. Our sounds hidden in the music, our reo purified to sound.” 

The exhibition website. It includes a free download of the soundtrack which includes all 248 pūtangitangi from the exhibition.

Exhibition Location:

Urban Dream Brokerage Gallery
113 Taranaki St, Wellington

Exhibition Open Times:

Friday 15th November 10am-4pm
Friday 15th November 6:30pm *Opening Night*Saturday 16th November 10am-4pmSunday 17th November 10am-4pm

Ruby Solly (Kāi Tahu, Waitaha, Kāti Māmoe) is a writer, musician and taonga pūoro practitioner living in Pōneke. She has been published in journals such as Landfall, Starling and Sport, among others. In 2020 she released her debut album, Pōneke, which looks at the soundscapes of Wellington’s past, present and future through the use of taonga pūoro, cello, and environmental sounds. She has recently completed a PhD in public health, focusing on the use of taonga pūoro in hauora Māori. Tōku Pāpā (THWUP, 2021) was her first book, and The Artist (THWUP, 2023) her second.