Associate professor at EIT Tairāwhiti’s School of Mäori Art, Toihoukura, Derek Lardelli was recently in Canada on a Toi Māori Aotearoa exchange program me.

During the two-week exchange, Derek worked at the Freda Diesing Northwest Coast School of Indigenous Art with principal tutor Stan Bevan, celeb rated Tahltan-Tlingit artist Dempsey Bob, and their First Nations community in Terrace, British Columbia. He also spent time at Vancouver’s Emily Carr University of Art + Design. Derek, who works in multiple media, was chosen for the exchange for his work in tā moko.

Tamahou Temara, operations manager for the Toi Mäori national arts organisation said: “Derek is the chair for his national art form team Te Uhi a Mat aora, and is regarded as one of New Zealand’s finest tā moko artists.”