Upon an invite from the Ministry of Culture, a group of Maori students from the AucklandUniversity of Technology in New Zealand and their instructors will travel to Taiwan, where their ancestors might have originated.
They will experience the Taiwanese aboriginal culture, which is very similar to the traditional Maori culture, and participate in the Tap Roots Cultural Exchange program. The process will then be made into a documentary to let more New Zealand people know about the cultural connection between their country and Taiwan.
The New Zealand delegation is scheduled to visit Taitung County from Dec. 9 to 11 and shoot for the documentary. The National Museum of Prehistory will also arrange performances by the Maori delegation and Taiwan's Rukai aboriginal people from the Da Ru Mak tribe at the opening of the Taitung-based museum's "Sanga - Dancing Warriors” exhibition.
Two documentaries - "Voices in the Clouds” by American director Aaron Hosé and "Made in Taiwan” produced by New Zealand director Dan Salmon - will be screened at an Austronesian Culture Film Festival organized by the museum on Dec. 11.
The festival's program will also include "'irang - Martin Asan” by Taiwanese director Lin Kuang-liang (Fuday), which will be shown at Taitung's Tiehua Village later that day, followed by singing and dancing by local aboriginal students and their Maori counterparts.
On Dec. 10, the Maori delegation will visit several prehistoric sites in Taitung and meet with representatives of the Da Ru Mak tribe. The organizer said it hopes the New Zealand and Taiwanese indigenous peoples can learn more about each other through such interactions and come upon the close connections shared between their forebears.
In addition to the production of a documentary on this exchange visit, the program will also build the foundation for future Taiwan-New Zealand audiovisual collaborations and the joint promotion of aboriginal tourism and trade, said Gary Smoke, director of International Relations atthe ATAYAL Organization, one of the co-organizers of the cultural exchange visit.