Tanya Muagututi'a
Profile
Artist, producer, mentor, event manager. For the multi-talented Tanya Muagututi’a, pacific and indigenous performing arts is at the forefront of everything she turns her attention to. An Aotearoa-born Samoan, Tanya is an original member of the award winning performing arts collective, Pacific Underground, leading the company with husband Pos Mavaega since 1999. In addition to her prodigious creative output, Tanya’s commitment to supporting the next generation of young Pasifika artists and theatre-makers is evident through her involvement in No.3 Roskill Theatre and Māngere Arts Centre in Tāmaki Makaurau, Otago and Canterbury Polyfests in Ōtepoti and Ōtautahi, and Kia Mau Festival in Pōneke.
In 2020, Tanya won Best Play by a Pasifika Playwright for her script Scholars, based on her father's experiences as a Samoan scholar student in New Zealand, and the Special Recognition Award at the CNZ Pacific Arts Awards. In 2021 Tanya, alongside Pos, was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Pacific performing arts.
Insight
Storytelling is the common thread running through Tanya Muagututi’a’s multi-faceted life as a Pasifika artist. She is a life-long story teller from a culture of storytelling.
When invited to contribute a vision for gender equality to the 1001 Spheres project, her natural entry point was through the stories passed down to her from ancestors. These stories pre-date the impact of colonisation and the puritanical doctrines of missionaries. They are stories based on love and acceptance, on freedom of expression and on openness to diverse sexualities and diverse gender identities. Through the art of storytelling, Tanya encourages us to envision an empowered future by remembering past truths.
Te Reo Glossary
Te Reo Glossary
ākonga
student, pupil
alofa
love, affection (Cook Islands Māori language)
Aotearoa
New Zealand
aroha
love, affection
haere rā
goodbye, farewell
hapū
subtribe, part of a kinship group
ira tangata
term used for intersex in a Māori context
irawhiti
term used for transgender in a Māori context
Itāria
Italy
iwi
extended kinship group descended from a common ancestor and associated with a distinct territory in Aotearoa
kairangahau
researcher
kaitiaki
guardian
kaitiakitanga
guardianship, stewardship
kia kaha ngā wāhine toa
be strong woman warriors
kia ora
hello, greetings
kia orana
hello, greetings (Cook Islands Māori language)
kōrero
conversation, discussion
kuia
female elder
mahi
work
māmā
mother, mum
mana
status, prestige, authority,
Māngere
a major suburb in South Auckland, New Zealand
Māori
Indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand
mauri
life force, life principle
moana
ocean, sea
Ōtautahi
Christchurch, city in South Island, New Zealand
Ōtepoti
Dunedin, city in South Island, New Zealand
pākeha
New Zealander of European/foreign descent
peka
branch (of a tree, river, organisation)
Pōneke
Wellington, Capital of New Zealand
rangatahi
youth, young people
takatāpui
queer, gay, rainbow community
Tāmaki Makaurau
Auckland, city in North Island, New Zealand
tapu
sacred, prohibited
tautoko
to support, advocate
Te Kāhui Tika Tangata
Human Rights Commission, New Zealand
Te Kaunihera Wahine o Aotearoa
National Council of Women of New Zealand
Te Kotahitanga
Autonomous Māori Parliament from 1892 to 1902
Te Moana-Nui-ā-Kiwa
the Pacific Ocean
te reo
the Māori language
Te Ropu Wahine Maori Toko i te Ora
Māori Women’s Welfare League
Te Wāhi Wāhine o Tāmaki Makaurau
Auckland Women’s Centre
tikanga
protocol, correct procedure
wāhine
woman, women
wāhine kaha
strong woman/women
waiata
song, chant
waiata taitoko
song of support usually sung after a speech
wairua
spirit, soul
whakapapa
genealogy, lineage
whānau
family, extended family group
whare
house, building