Fitzwilliam Museum - Tau O Mai | Journeys with Mai Project

Fitzwilliam Tour

Week 10 was slightly different as we actually left university and went to the Fitzwilliam Museum. This visit was to introduce us to our new project where we have to create a proposal for a digital experience for young people based on their exhibition.

When we got there we had a busy schedule and split up to do different activities. We basically had three main meetings or sessions with people from the museum and the project partners.

In the first one we got introduced to the brief and the exhibition which is called "Tau o Mai | Journeys with Mai".We were also introduced to Lyall Hakaraia who is an artist contributing to the project. He opened a "portal" to introduce us to the concept of VĀ which is a sacred connection between people and places. Afterwards they explained that it is all about Mai who was the first ever Polynesian visitor to Britain in the 1700s. It was good to get the background info on why we were there and what the project is about.

Then we went to the second meeting which was a tour of the actual exhibition. We looked at the painting of Mai and the installation by the SaVĀge Kʻlub which had all sorts of colours and patterns. It explores things like connection and belonging.

Then we went to the second meeting which was with another one of the project collaborators who made us sit on chairs back to back to do a drawing activity. I was sat back to back with Josh. I first had to describe an image. Funny enough, the image was a printed version of the Painting of Mai we had just seen in the exhibition 5 minutes prior, so it was quite easy to describe. Unfortunately, Josh picked the easier option to just write the descriptions instead of drawing what I was saying. Then it was my turn to draw, and this time he described another painting of Mai that we hadn't seen before. In this one, his hair was down and he looked a lot more feminine. I think I did quite well.

After the activity, we were told a bit more information about Mai's time in the UK and how he became somewhat of a "celebrity" and even met the King.

Then we went to the third meeting which was with Lyall Hakaraia. This was probably the most memorable part because he asked us to introduce our names, background and invite one of our ancestors into the space with us. I chose to invite my grandmother. I said she was a sweet lady who I unfortunately never met but it felt really special to include her. After this we spoke more about the culture and the connections involved in the project.

To finish the day we had our last meeting which was the guy closing the portal and basically a goodbye meeting called a Karakia.

After wards we went back to university and we joined our individual teams. I am in Team 3 with Conan, Jula, Leela, Quinn and Josh. We sat down and spoke about the project in more depth and started picking out what each person will do so we can get started properly. Conan also created a "Team norms" file which shows what everyone has to do and will be doing for the project and their individual help towards finishing the project.