Te Ao o te Māori
The voices of her ancestors sing in the life of Ariana Tikao. And when she takes the stage you get to share in what they have to say.
Performing to audiences here and overseas has been a mainstay in Ariana’s life for the past 18 years or more. When she’s not on stage, her days are filled with family and work – two of the main sources that inspire her stories.
In November, Ariana teamed up with two other Ngāi Tahu wāhine toa, Mahina-ina Kaui and Christine White, and formed Voices of Our Ancestors. The trio went on a month-long tour sponsored by Arts on Tour. By van, they travelled from Kaitaia to Riverton for 16 small-town concerts and ended in Whakaraupo (Lyttelton) at Governors Bay for a final gig in front of whānau and friends.
The other main part of Ariana’s life has brought about a recent change in residence. The singer/songwriter and husband Ross Calman, 12-year-old daughter Matahana and 10-year-old son Tama-te-ra have all moved to Wellington where Ariana has started a new job at the Alexander Turnbull Library. She works with Māori materials, manuscripts mostly, in a role that sees her responsible for describing the content accurately so it can be accessed more easily.
This work, and her previous role at the Education Library at the University of Canterbury, helps to reveal the stories she weaves in her music. Ariana seeks knowledge held within whānau manuscripts for her muse. In April 2011 she shared some of this knowledge at the International Indigenous Librarians Forum in Norway.
In 2008, Ariana was the Musician in Residence at the Centre for New Zealand Studies in London.
Next year she will be touring UK and Europe with her band Emeralds and Greenstone.
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