Arohā is love and love is arohā, right? When the translation is this simple, we miss what is actually being said, the depth and what is actually embedded in the kupu.

To break arohā down to aro and hā. Aro is to focus on, to direct attention and to face. Hā is the breath of life, an essence or energy. To combine them is “To turn one’s attention and presence towards the breath of another”.

Through my own reo journey I would always ask “He aha te whakamāoritanga ‘I love you’? I would always be upset when people would answer and say that there isn’t one direct way to say it. But through my reo journey, I have learnt so much about myself. That there isn’t one direct way to communicate through societies and worlds. That some languages are more possessive and some are just plainly poetic. This exhibition focuses on the comparison between Arohā and Love. Nau mai haere mai e te whānau!