Applications open for Te Māori fellowships to the UK.

Applications are open for two fellowships for Māori curators to work directly with some of the taonga Māori held at Oxford in the United Kingdom.

In April Te Māori Manaaki Taonga Trust formalised a partnership with the Pitt Rivers Museum at the University of Oxford and Te Wānanga o Aotearoa opening the door for the fellowships.

Te Māori Manaaki Taonga Trust Board Member Dr Arapata Hakiwai (Ngāti Kahungunu, Rongowhakaata, Te Aitanga a Mahaki, Ngāti Porou, Ngāi Tahu) told RNZ the initiative builds on the legacy of the landmark Te Māori exhibition of the 1980s.

"This is an opportunity to engage directly with our Māori taonga that are held in that museum. It's an opportunity to share mātauranga Māori and knowledge, and it's an opportunity to strengthen our presence internationally and show cultural leadership."

The fellowship will involve working in partnership with Pitt Rivers Museum which holds a large number of taonga Māori within its walls, he said.

There is an opportunity for Māori curators, practitioners, researchers or cultural heritage professionals to spend a six-week residency in Oxford, from 11 October to 30 November 2026, to reconnect with those taonga on behalf of all Māoridom, he said.

"There's over 33 museums and institutions in the United Kingdom that hold Māori treasures. But there's only a very, very small percentage of people who know about them. And, you know, if we go back to the Te Māori exhibition, you know, it was reconnecting with our taonga, knowing our taonga, and bringing them to light.

"So this is an opportunity [to spend] time over there, working with their staff, building those relationships."

One fellowship is reserved for Te Wānanga o Aotearoa tauira and kaimahi, reflecting the partnership underpinning the programme.

Hakiwai acknowledged those who led the Te Māori kaupapa who have now passed on, among them Tamati Reedy, Hirini Moko Mead and Kara Puketapu.

Te Māori was a huge kaupapa that involved many organisations and people as it toured the United States before returning to Aoteatoa as Te Hokinga Mai.

Part of that involved reconnecting with taonga Māori held in distant lands, he said.

"This carries on the legacy of Te Māori, and our taonga aren't dislocated from our culture, they're very much a part of our culture. So these fellows continue that legacy in the same way that our leaders of Tā Hirini, and when you look at the original trust with Wiremu Cooper, Te Aue Davis, and Tā Hirini, they established the fellows very early on in the piece, to build up the capability and capacity of Māori."

Te Māori Manaaki Taonga Trust received $10 million in funding as part of Budget 2026. The funds were aimed to support the Trust to deliver a programme of trade-focused events and digital outreach activities that showcase traditional and contemporary Māori arts, goods and services

Hakiwai said there would be a launch very soon which would lay out where that funding would go, but both the fellowships and the events coming up are all in support of laying the foundation for Te Māori going into the future.

"This fellowship is the start of a journey, really, and the start of something which will build momentum, and as trustees of the Te Māori Manaaki Taonga Trust, really looking forward to the future."

Applications open Monday and close 20 July.