Post by Lux on Jun 29, 2008 18:50:49 GMT 12
Iti stirs race row on taxpayer tour
By LOIS WATSON - Sunday Star Times | Sunday, 29 June 2008
Maori activist Tame Iti is using his new-found fame as an artist to decry New Zealand's race relations while on a trip to Europe which has been partly funded by the taxpayer.
Iti, in Europe despite being on bail for serious charges arising from last year's police raid on alleged military-style training camps in the Urewera ranges, has been courting international media attention through his starring role in the dance production, The Tempest II.
Iti plays Prospero in the show, based loosely on Shakespeare's play, which challenges the ideas of justice and redemption through stories of oppression and resistance.
Creative New Zealand has sponsored the production's European tour, contributing $35,000 towards airfares and freight.
In a feature interview with Belgian newspaper Le Soir, which the Sunday Star-Times had translated from French, Iti bemoaned that: "In New Zealand people believe all is good because we take the same buses and we play rugby together. But they do not see that the law is against us and that we've had 95 per cent of our territory stolen.
"It's just like we've been told 'we're going to give your car back but without the wheels or the engine. We will give you money so that you can buy them back'. We can drive the car but it's not ours. What we really want is the vehicle's papers... the ownership."
Iti, who rose to infamy when he fired a gun at the New Zealand flag during a Maori sovereignty protest, was this morning scheduled to perform at London's Queen Elizabeth Centre as part of the prestigious performing arts festival, Lift.
He has been granted a visa to enter the UK, despite the serious charges he is facing here. His strict bail conditions, which required him to report regularly to the Whakatane police and surrender his passport, were relaxed so that he could travel despite police opposition following a High Court application by his lawyer.
Iti was, however, forced to head back last week to report to police before returning to the UK for the tour's second leg a requirement he was particularly angry about.
The play has already toured Belgium, Portugal, Spain and Germany, where much has been made of Iti's involvement and of the plight of Maori in New Zealand. The play "gives a voice back to natives in a dark warrior ballet", said one review in the Belgium newspaper Le Soir.
Responding to parliamentary questions on Iti's changed bail conditions, Police Minister Annette King said it was inappropriate for her to comment on decisions made by the judiciary.
NZ First MP Ron Mark, who initially raised the issue in parliament, said it was "insane" that Iti was being allowed to parade around Europe at the taxpayers' expense slagging off New Zealand while on bail for charges here.
So apparently if your tours are partly funded by Government collected tax, you aren't under any circumstances to have a strong opinion or view about the state of affairs in this Country...Rubbish!
I've met many foreign visitors to this country who have said forthright that the picture that is painted of New Zealand and in regard to indigenous culture is far different from what they experience the truth of the matter is that Maoritangi in its true form is still far beneath the surface of Mainstream NZ, that if you want to experience Maoritanga in all its glory you have to hunt it out. It is not something which is readily accepted by many mainstream New Zealanders, or in fact something which many have any knowledge of and when proposals are made to educate, there is always backlash, and resistance.
But hey, I'll scout around and see if