Kommi Me Ana Taipō

Kommi is an Lyttelton-based vocalist who performs entirely in the Kāi Tahu dialect. A bit swampy, a bit witchy, gliding and fluttering through te reo Māori rapsongs, Kommi will carry you into a philosophical reconciliation with their own personal taipō (spooks, goblins, ghosts).
This performance acknowledges life (and death), contentment and joy (and grief and angst), and the absurd. You will encounter elements of self-deprivation, purification and preparation, alongside leisure and longing, maternal and supplementary love, unity within non-conformity and tautohe/protest. Join Kommi’s exploration of such kaupapa as being careless with one’s words, being hōhā and haunted, being a reject of alien abduction (true story), mākutu (witchcraft) and tūrehu (“faeries”), visions of death and escapism, an indigenous perspective on governmental travesties and police persiflage, and what’s going on in Falisteen. Through all this, Kommi me ana Taipō (Kommi and their Taipō) will thrill and reanimate you. In the spirit of Matariki come shake off and cast away your own musty taipō to celebrate and prepare for the new year ahead!

Kommi (Kāi Tahu, Te-Āti-Awa) is also a writer, poet, activist and a lecturer in Māori and Indigenous Studies and Te Reo Māori. They performed as part of last year’s sell-out Matariki performance ‘Ka Noho, Ka Mate’ in the Great Hall.

This event is part of Matariki 2024, where we’re celebrating Matariki with talented artists from Ōtautahi and beyond. Bring your friends and whānau to Te Matatiki Toi Ora The Arts Centre (17 – 30 Pipiri June) for music, exhibitions, kapa haka, wānanga (workshops), kai, light installations, special mākete and much more.