Kōhua - Cauldron
Stage Series

Opening Activation:
Wednesday 19th Feb: 7pm
This work was commissioned by Curator, Lîm Fawine Kado, for the special 15th Anniversary program of The Performance Arcade
Round about the cauldron go... oro, kupu and magic flow... Kõhua - Cauldron is an activation performance created to bring together elements from across the programme of 'Tandem' into a virtual potion of memory. An aural potion of taonga pūoro, cello, toi kupu, and vocals, to weave you into the festival itself.
Dr. Ruby Solly
Kāi Tahu, Waitaha, Kāti Māmoe
Dr. Ruby Solly is a writer, taonga pūoro practitioner, artist, and composer. She has been published in America, Australia, Antartica and extensively within Aotearoa. She has published two books of poetry with Te Herenga Waka University Press; Tōku Pāpā (2019) and The Artist, both of which were longlisted for the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. Ruby has also had essays and academic articles published relating to her work with taonga pūoro, or traditional Māori instruments, and their connection to health and wellbeing both historically and within modern day use.
In early 2024, Ruby received her PhD in public health for her thesis on the use of taonga pūoro within hauora Māori. This work built on her initial masters thesis in the use of taonga pūoro within music therapy in acute mental health.