DARK!DARK!DARK! is a Tagata Moana performance – a living bestiary within a subterranean epoch in-between the collapse of one world and the birthing of another. From the creative force of CONJAH (Jahra Wasasala and ooshcon), recipients of Kia Mau Festival’s inaugural innovative new initiative, He Toi Puaki, we present the world premiere of DARK!DARK!DARK!
DARK!DARK!DARK! is a living bestiary entangled within an epoch; a bodied ‘va’ or ‘vata’ between the collapse of one world and the birth of another.  DARK!DARK!DARK! serves as a gathering point of the subterranean ancestral ecologies that thrive in the descent, mirroring our own interior depths. Honouring the mutations of living forms that have named themselves in the epoch, DARK!DARK!DARK! looks at how we can remake and remember ourselves amidst ecological terror. 

Sharing multiple worlds within a work, DARK!DARK!DARK! dreams and remembers into known and speculative Tagata Moana lineages of darkness, story-telling and the pantheon of forms that inhabit them. Pushing the boundaries of their physicality, two performers shed their skin and become the unbecoming; using genre-bending dance, character performance, harsh vocalisation, sound distortion and larger than life design elements as catalysts. 

The first full-length directorial and performance debut of CONJAH and collaborators, DARK!DARK!DARK! invites you to submerge and turn your sight towards some of our oldest Oceanic subterranean ancestors; the unnameable, the mutated, the beyond-body, the weird, the hybrid, the reborn, the buried, the unmade, the decaying, the endless – the DARK. 

He Toi Puaki – Seed Commissions, is a significant evolution in Kia Mau’s commitment to nurturing indigenous voices and fostering homegrown talent amongst our arts whānau here in Te Upoko o te Ika a Māui. He Toi Puaki embodies the essence of its name by serving as a platform for emerging artists to blossom from seeds of creativity into fully realised productions. This commissioning opportunity is set to redefine the landscape of indigenous performance art in Aotearoa.

Among the inaugural recipients of the He Toi Puaki commission are Emma Katene, Īhaka Martyn, and the dynamic partnership known as CONJAH, forged between Jahra Wasasala and ooshcon

Kia Mau Festival is at the forefront of contemporary Tāngata Whenua, Tāngata Moana, and Indigenous arts in Aotearoa and beyond. We are innovators—pushing boundaries, redefining forms, and forging new paths with creative risk-taking at every step.Right here, right now, we bring together local, national, and international artists in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. We find the intersection where our stories intertwine, creating an experience that is uniquely 'local' yet unparalleled in Pōneke throughout the year.

Kia Mau Festival offers a truly unique experience, led by Tāngata Whenua, Tāngata Moana, and Indigenous voices at every level—from our leadership to our artists and audiences. Unlike any other festival, we are not just a platform for presentations; we are a hub for kōrero and whanaungatanga.