Tuia 250 ki Tūranga

Client : Te Hā 2019 Commemorations, Ministry of Culture and Heritage.

Deliverables : Website Development | Video Production | Photography

Contributors : Phil Yeo Photography, Cinema East, Damon Meade

Background : In October 2019, New Zealand marked 250 years since the first meetings between Māori and Europeans during James Cook and the Endeavour's 1769 voyage to Aotearoa New Zealand. Turanga Tairāwhiti or Gisborne as it is known was ground zero for this encounter. This national commemoration acknowledged this pivotal moment in our nation’s history as well as the exceptional feats of Pacific voyagers who reached and settled in Aotearoa many years earlier.

I've worked on this project since 2016 and I'm immensely proud to have been involved in building a platform for the stories of the first encounters.