Manawaka Ao

20/04/2026

Join us in Tāmaki Makaurau for a special community screening.

In collaboration with our friends .songsofsolidarity we invite you to a screening of the anti-caste short film Caste on the Menu Card — which explores how food becomes a site of exclusion, identity, and othering.

Held during Dalit History Month, which honours the birth of Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar who was a key architect of the Indian Constitution and a lifelong activist against caste-based oppression.

Dalit? Caste? What do these terms mean?
Why does Dalit History Month matter?
What does food have to do with systems of power and exclusion?

This gathering offers an opportunity to learn together.

The session will be led by Sneha Singh , a feminist with Dalit whakapapa from the lands of Varanasi. Her work sits at the intersections of gender, diaspora, identity, caste, and Hindutva.

We invite curious minds, readers, community members, and cultural workers to come together in conversation, reflection, and learning.

📚Reference materials are available via this post. For those who prefer books, we also encourage you to explore the rich collections available online and

🗓 Thursday 23 April 2026
🕡 6:30pm
📍 165 Stoddard Road, Mount Roskill

Chai and light snacks will be served.

We invite curious minds, readers, community

03/04/2026

We have been running these sessions in the background and pleased to be able to re open registrations ✨

Come and join Shelly (.one.more.row, she/her, British Indian tauiwi) and Wendy (, she/her, Cantonese tauiwi), who will be facilitating our community yarning sessions*.

A yarn can be a chat or a story, as well as the material that we knit and crochet with. The vision is to create a soft space for women and rainbow whānau of the global majority (Black, Indigenous, people of colour) where we can connect: share stories, experiences, and ideas or just be, as we create with our hands.

There will be materials and pattern links for the I Heart Palestine and Tino Rangatiratanga motifs as found on the flyer (adventurous beginner friendly, designed by Wendy) and a community blanket project for everyone to contribute some stitches to.

There will be support for complete beginners, and anyone can bring existing knitting or crochet projects to work on and/or materials to share.

If this sounds like something that you would like to be part of, please join us. Come alone or bring a friend, neighbour, or whānau member who might not have seen the social media posts.

All knitting and crochet experience levels welcome.

Drop in for a short time or stay for the whole session.
When: Sunday 12 April, 2–4 pm
Where: Mt Roskill, Tāmaki Makaurau.

Registration in our bio.

Snacks, tea, and coffee will be provided. We acknowledge our vulnerable whānau and support mask wearing.

* We acknowledge the significant tradition of the Yarning Circle, a narrative-based, relationship-building practice of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

03/04/2026

We’ve been working alongside our friends Maha and Laura from .nz for the past few years. Not only deepening our relationships with one another but finding spaces in new places where the pūrakau around Pounamu can be shared as well as the experience of working with pounamu.

Our session in collaboration with brought together our seniors and youth in the Glenavon region of Tamaki Makaurau.
What a combination in being to hear stories from our seniors about their lives and also for some their connections to Te Ao Māori.

With young hands working with and alongside more senior hands - we also got to witness the power of remembering and of passing down knowledge and story to our younger generations ✨✨

We wish to thank and the Whau local board for funding support.

📸

19/03/2026

Interested in reading feminist works from the global south? If so this book and Ink could be for you.

Join us at the end of March as we gather to discuss “Heart lamp,” selective stories by Banu Mustaq and translated by . For our discussion, we will be focusing on the short stories, “Heartlamp” and “High heeled shoe”.

We’re also excited to share that Deepa Bhasthi will be joining us in May for a special in community bookclub session in conversation with Ara Alam-Simmons . We would also like to acknowledge who will also be speaking with Deepa about “translating with an accent”.

16/03/2026

We would like to thank everyone who joined us for this special screening of Toitū: Visual Sovereignty and for the rich conversation with the wonderful Nigel Borell. With superb direction from Chelsea Winstanley, the film does more than document a powerful moment in Aotearoa’s art history — it opens the door to conversations that are vital not only for Pākehā audiences, but also for our South Asian diaspora and broader ethnically diverse communities.

We are grateful to Bianca Ranson of Toitū te Aroha, whose grounding helped centre the day and called us to recognise how deeply interconnected we are as communities and Gauri for your effortless MCing.

Warm thanks to for creating the space that planted the seeds of this conversation and bringing both Nigel and Ara into each other’s social imagination.

To our funders Albert-Eden Local board
and to .naidu and who lead and champion and advocate for so many across our communities. Thank you for always being there for us.

There were so many rich insights from both the film and the conversation generated. One was the reminder that we are all guests in each other’s knowledge, and that recognising who holds narrative authority to tell their own stories is essential. Another was the powerful act of refusal and understanding how we might find ways to do this and also recognising the ways in which we can be led astray.

These reflections remind us that building relationships across our diverse communities and with Tangata Whenua is not automatic, but requires intentional and deliberate practice with one another.

21/02/2026

20/02/2026

Who does love ask us to be?
How does love ask us to show up?
What becomes possible?

These are just some of the reflections we are having as we plan for our special screening of Visual Sovereignty and conversation about being in relation.

We are deeply grateful for the generosity and aroha of Nigel Borell and Chelsea Winstanley for making this screening possible.

The film follows artist and curator Nigel Borell as he brings together the largest Māori exhibition ever held, featuring over 300 works by 100 Māori artists at the Auckland Art Gallery. Five years in the making, the documentary bears witness to both celebration and the enduring tensions between colonial institutions and Māori self-determination. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Nigel, before moving into a wider kōrero as we explore our theme: being in relation.

Our karakia and opening words will be offered by Mana Wāhine Bianca Ranson (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu ki Whaingaroa). Bianca’s words, work, and actions are grounded in solidarity, aroha, and collective strength.

Manawaka Ao is powered and led by a small group of volunteers. We extend our sincere thanks to our funders, Eden/Albert Local Board, and our friends at Whānau Community Hub, alongside the many others whose care and intention have shaped our offerings.

Come join us. All welcome. Registrations can be found in our bio ✨

09/02/2026

Following its international debut at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Manawaka Ao are honoured to bring Toitū: Visual Sovereignty to our South Asian diaspora and wider circles, in the spirit of shared learning, aroha, and connection. All are welcome.

We are deeply grateful for the generosity and aroha of Nigel Borell and Chelsea Winstanley for making this screening possible.

The film follows artist and curator Nigel Borell as he brings together the largest Māori exhibition ever held, featuring over 300 works by 100 Māori artists at the Auckland Art Gallery. Five years in the making, the documentary bears witness to both celebration and the enduring tensions between colonial institutions and Māori self-determination. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Nigel, before moving into a wider kōrero as we explore our theme: being in relation.

Our karakia and opening words will be offered by Mana Wāhine Bianca Ranson (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu ki Whaingaroa). Bianca’s words, work, and actions are grounded in solidarity, aroha, and collective strength.

Manawaka Ao is powered and led by a small group of volunteers. We extend our sincere thanks to our funders, Eden/Albert Local Board, and our collaborators at Whānau Community Hub, alongside the many others whose care and intention have shaped this offering.

Come join us. Registrations can be found in our bio ✨

11/01/2026