Today in the Pacific Cultures Collections storeroom, we were visited by some of Wellington’s hip hop historians. The visit was in preparation for their hosting of a historic Back of House Hip Hop Tour this coming Sunday 2 November.
As part of Family Fun: Aotearoa Hip Hop 101 special guest hip hop pioneers KOS 163 and Rhys B will lead a sneak ‘backstage’ tour where they will respond to the Pacific Cultures collections. Hip hop highlights will include a turntable that belonged to multiple DJ mixing champion DJ Raw; a record collection from Upper Hutt Posse founding member DLT; T-shirts from Dawn Raid Entertainment and the gold medal won by choreographer Parris Goebel at the Hip Hop International (HHI) World Championships.
This Sunday’s events coincide with Hip Hop History Month, 20 years of local hip hop collective Footsouljahs and 30 years since the release of the hip hop movie Beat Street.
I am very curious about the event and wish I could have attended, but I live overseas. I was wondering if anyone would be willing to give me some feedback as to how it went. I am particularly interested in the artists’ response to the Pacific Collection and what sort of topics came up.
Thank you!
Hi Beth, the artists linked some of the practices of hip hop such as battling, breaking, MC-ing to indigenous practices such as oratory, performance etc, in historical and contemporary times. They talked about community, identity and values such as respect. A major focus was on the local history of hip hop and experiences of getting established, securing gigs, and sourcing the latest music, video and films. It was a wide ranging presentation but one very grounded in local hip hop history. The event was well supported by the local hip hop community and other visitors to the museum. Thank you for checking out the blog…
Hi Sean,
Thank you so much for your response! I have wrote up a short blog post about the event after you responded (albeit – I only posted it this week).
http://baetli.tumblr.com/post/113393771091/hip-hop-historians
Cheers!
Bethea
Thank you Bethea for sharing your reflections on this event via your blog. I have shared your link with some of the team here at Te Papa…you may also be interested in this link that gives some wider context to Te Papa’s engagement with hip hop. https://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2014/12/02/hip-hop-was-herefrom-day-1/
missed this fabulous opportunity – my grandson is a hip-hop fan. Any future opportunities?
Kia ora Pam, tell your grandson that we are planning something big in June for Matariki. Thank you
Are these guys coming to Auckland?
Hi Philip, this was just a Wellington based event this time around…thank you for checking in on the blog!