JCDecaux and Haumi mark Pae Ātea’s 2nd anniversary celebrating Māori culture

AUCKLAND, Today: JCDecaux is celebrating two exciting years with Haumi, showcasing Māori art and culture through the Pae Ātea initiative. It’s a dynamic celebration of tradition across New Zealand.

Their latest campaign, Tuku Taniwha, will be featured across JCDecaux’s digital network this April. The campaign draws inspiration from various traditions that honor taniwha throughout history. It showcases the word “taniwha” in diverse artistic forms to encourage reflection on our environmental connections.

Phil Eastwood, General Manager at JCDecaux New Zealand, reflected on the collaboration, “It has been a privilege to partner with Haumi and showcase Māori tradition and culture to a mass audience.”

Eastwood elaborated on New Zealand’s cultural evolution, “Like many countries New Zealand has evolved into a multi-cultural environment with people arriving here from all over the world.

“As our country grows, there has been an increased focus on celebrating and elevating the unique stories embedded in our land, Aotearoa New Zealand.”

“It has been a privilege to partner with Haumi and showcase Māori tradition and culture to a mass audience.”

He also highlighted the impact of their efforts, “Our collaboration with Haumi has brought Māori storytelling to the national JCDecaux digital network, creating a stage to inspire a mass conversation through a te ao Māori worldview.

“Our hope is that through Pae Ātea, New Zealanders will have given a moment in the everyday to reconsider our connection to people, place and community, build shared understanding and enrich their daily lives.

“We’re proud of what Pae Ātea has achieved both creatively and in terms of deepening conversations throughout our communities.”

Over the last two years, Pae Ātea, meaning ‘open horizon’, has used JCDecaux’s digital billboards as a public gallery for Māori art and stories, enhancing urban spaces with rich narratives and designs. This initiative has aimed to express Māori identity and celebrate connectivity to people, place, and shared histories.

Since the partnership began, Māori perspectives have reached over 2.8 million New Zealanders via JCDecaux’s network, impacting major urban intersections in Auckland. The exhibitions have varied from Tuku Mātauranga (knowledge and the written word) and Tuku Taiao (nature and environment) to Tuku Wā (past and future) and Tuku Whenua (the birth of Auckland, in partnership with Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei).