Watch this space! More info coming soon!

Confirmed workshops: 

Story Weaving ~ This will be a series of workshops run by Michelle Vette throughout the event. The workshops will include using textiles and personal mementos to create a biographical artwork.

About Michelle: Michelle Vette has been working in health and wellness for quite a few years now, currently focussing on providing healthcare at Weleda Healthcare Centre (an independent nursing practice of anthroposophic nurses) and as the Programme Director for Holistic Health Studies at Taruna. From the hands on application of external therapies to recognising an individual’s capacity for self care and healing and working with an appreciation of each of our journeys with wellness, being an anthroposophic nurse specialist offers a rare and embracing role in contemporary health care in New Zealand.

Biodynamic Gardening ~ We will be working together with Ōnuku Marae to re-establish historic vegetable gardens on the site. We will be making compost heaps and garden beds, and putting some of the first plants in the new garden. Throughout this process Marinus La Rooij will be sharing some of his knowledge about biodynamic practices.

Healing Words: Speech and Drama ~ This workshop will be run by Linden McCall. Linden is currently working at Taruna College as a Speech and Drama  teacher in the Education courses. She also works with teenagers in Hohepa children’s services. Linden is a respected international  lecturer with a deep interest in poetry and creative speech as a vehicle for physical and spiritual well being.

Place Based Watercolour Painting ~ This workshop will be run by Maria Melino. Maria is currently working at Taruna College as a course director and adult educator. She also has extensive experience as an art tutor and continues to work as an art educator for schools. She has a passion for sharing art experience with people of diverse ages and backgrounds, and sees art-making as a therapeutic life skill.

Making Herbal Remedies ~ In this workshop we will spend tíme outside, building a relationship between us and mother earth. We will create a sacred space for us to work in. We will gather and observe plant, and find out about their benefits and how they relate to us. This workshop will be run by Nora Franz.

Confirmed Speakers

David Ritchie - Challenges and Thresholds in Young Adulthood

About David: David is a GP at Helios Integrative Medical Centre and has
always been interested in what lies behind people getting
ill – whether this is to do with social or developmental
issues. He teaches Holistic medicine (anthroposophic medicine) to a
wide variety of audiences including doctors, teachers,
counsellors and students.

Karuna Karasulas – Well-being Depends on Words

We will begin with Ludwig Wittgenstein: “The limits of my language mean the limits of my world”, and touch on the raison d’être of the ongoing struggle to retain te reo Māori as a living language. We will then work together on waiata and whakataukī to expand the limits of our shared understanding.

About Karuna: Karuna is of Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Porou and British descent. She has a background in performing arts and currently works as a kaiārahi reo at Rowley Avenue School. Karuna and her whānau are part of the Kotahi Mano Kaika strategy for revitalising te reo Māori here in the south, and this passion shapes most of what else she is involved in.