JCDecaux and Haumi celebrate two years of Pae Ātea, showcasing Māori culture and creative expression

JCDecaux is celebrating the culmination of its successful two-year partnership with concept and creative studio Haumi to showcase Māori art and cultural connection through the Pae Ātea kaupapa.

The latest campaign, Tuku Taniwha, will be displayed across JCDecaux’s digital network during April. The tuku (campaign) is inspired by the different traditions that remember and record taniwha and their presence through time. It features the simple "taniwha" wordmark, expressed in diverse forms to encourage open interpretation and reflection of our environment.

Phil Eastwood, General Manager JCDecaux New Zealand, said it has been a privilege to partner with Haumi and showcase Māori tradition and culture to a mass audience.

"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.

“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, which translates as "open horizon", has utilised JCDecaux digital billboards to form a public gallery for Māori art and storytelling, enriching urban spaces with narratives, design, and thoughtful provocations. The two-year project was planned to enable the expression of Māori identity and to celebrate connectivity: to one another, to a sense of place and to shared histories.

Since the partnership started, Māori perspectives and storytelling have been presented to over 2.8 million New Zealanders across the JCDecaux network on some of the busiest intersections in Auckland. Exhibitions have ranged 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).