Wednesday November 21st, 9:45am-10:30am @ Soundings Theatre Tuaratini is a Takitua - a Storyteller. From a young age, the Auckland born Cook Islander was fascinated with myths and legends. She learned that pacific history was riddled with incredible stories of gods and goddesses, that became one with the sea, land and sky - and so she says, she was hooked - and her pacific storytelling journey began.

Tuaratini is currently the Project Manager at the Pacifica Arts Centre in west Auckland and facilitates varying arts, community, and education programmes. She performs as the Pacifica Experience official Storyteller, and is the senior tutor of the programme’s Music, Drums & Dance workshop.

Tuaratini - storyteller and Project Manager at the Pacifica Arts Centre

Her background is in media communications, where she worked in pan pacific broadcasting as a journalist, producer, and announcer. She has featured in various televised works addressing pacific culture, both as the subject and as a presenter, and has gone on to support several community initiatives as a communications consultant.

Ten years ago Tuaratini began focusing on the preservation and documentation of pacific cultural arts and practices, through the recording of oral histories and the performance of, song, chant, prayer and legends of the Cook Islands.

She regularly performs pacific storytelling at schools, festivals, libraries, and arts events around NZ. And in 2017 and 2018 she was invited to provide storytelling workshops and performances to groups and festivals around India.

In 2017 Tuaratini co-founded the Turou Takitua Storytelling Network, a group dedicated to the growth and development of Cook Islands storytelling in Aotearoa. She continues to develop her practice through research and engagement with other practitioners and knowledge holders, and is working closely with Pacific communities to encourage the revitalization of the storytelling styles of the Pacific.