Tahuna Te Ahi (Setting the World Alight) is a new series dedicated to showcasing ringatoi Māori - both emerging and experienced - across Aotearoa, celebrating the vibrancy and diversity of Toi Māori. 

This partnership between The Big Idea and Te Manawa will provide 'snapshots' into an artist’s creative journey and practice, whilst also illuminating personal aspects about the artist as a person. 

Turia Schmidt Peke, a graduate of Kura Kaupapa Māori, grew up immersed in te ao Māori, with Pūkana, a children's show inspiring her to pursue a career in the industry. After studying at the University of Waikato, she moved to Auckland and fell into production work at Whakaata Māori. Her dream job came when she became Production Coordinator for Pūkana.

With no prior acting experience, Turia landed her first role as ‘Geo’ on Ahikāroa, Aotearoa’s first bilingual drama, where she quickly became a lead for six seasons. She credits her success to Kapa Haka and her Māori upbringing, which gave her the confidence to step into acting. Now in her second year as a producer for Pūkana, Turia’s career has come full circle, blending her passion for Māori language and culture with her work.

This article has been adapted from a transcript. 

Kia ora e te whānau

Ko Turia Schmidt Peke tōku ingoa.

He uri tēnei nō Ngāti Hauā, Ngāti Tamaterā, ki te taha o taku pāpā nō Savai‘i, Hāmoa ahau.

He kaiwhakaari, he kaiwhakarite hōtaka anō hoki ahau.

Tēnā tātou

What Drives My Creative Practice?

Finding passion through Kapa Haka 

I think, first, it is passion. I had an organic way of getting into acting - I didn’t do drama classes or go to Toi Whakaari or anything. I went to the University of Waikato, came up to Auckland, fell into the TV industry and it all kind of snowballed from there.

My first ever audition was for Geo (Ahikāroa). I realised I really enjoyed it and had a passion for storytelling. I didn’t have any acting background but Kapa Haka was such a vehicle for my acting mahi. Learning your lines and your words for waiata so you can convey certain emotions - it’s really similar to acting. You not only tell those stories with the emotion in your voice, but you also tell them with your body language and your face - with a pūkana, with a menemene, with a flirty pretty smile, with a sad tangi face.

You’re portraying the whole song through your voice and your face and these minimal actions. And that’s kind of what acting is: You learn your lines, you block out the scene with your scene partners, you understand what your character is doing and what your character needs to portray. Everytime you’re acting, the goal is to make the audience feel a certain way. I find it really similar to Kapa Haka in that context. 

Making connections 

I have to give a lot of credit not only to what I knew, but who I knew. In this industry, your next job comes from your reputation and networking. What drives me are the people who have opened doors for me and given me a chance to act. 

All I really had was my background in Kapa Haka and my te reo Māori - I was quite naive in the industry! I didn’t realise those real life experiences were my biggest strengths. When you're in any kind of creative or artistic mahi, you draw upon those big emotions or milestone moments in your life. My gratitude and appreciation for my peers drives my creative practice, and I feel like I need to do that for the people after me as well, like a full circle moment. 

Being part of an evolving landscape 

When I played the role of a gangster selling drugs, my whanau asked me why I would do those roles. And I get it, I really do, because I don’t want to be constantly boxed into a certain demographic or type of character. But, on the one side, I hadn’t played a role like that before. So it was fun to get into that character - figure out their mindset and how they would talk and move. 

On the other side, everything evolves. I feel like, if we don’t do these roles, someone else is going to start getting these storylines and writing about us. It’s a bit of a responsibility because eventually, my cousin or niece or daughter won’t be offered those sorts of roles. They will be so far behind her. I love Once Were Warriors and I love that it launched a lot of people’s careers, but it should never come around again. We were able to evolve because those people made those stories. 

Collaborating as a producer

I’m working on Pūkana - a Māori language children’s show that’s been going since the 90s - and it’s actually the reason I got into media. As a kura kaupapa kid, there weren’t many te reo Māori shows for us and it really motivated me to get into the media world. From my producer side, my team drives my creative practice. 

We all have low days kua tē te koito, where we’re tired and we’re over the shoot, but seeing other people from my team pushing through makes me push through too. It’s a team effort and I enjoy collaborative work. I’m working on this kids show and I don’t know the trends like I used to, but I want to make sure that what we’re producing is current. So you have to not be vulnerable. There are times you can step forward, but there are also times where you can step back. 

Hopes for the Future

I hope that my future creative self is still collaborating with everyone. I hope I’m not being so ‘tunnel vision’ where I think I have all the answers. I work with people both younger and older because you learn so much when you’re working with different ages and demographics. I hope I’m still working with rangatahi Māori because that’s where my passion lies - working with kids, opening their eyes to new things and seeing them experience new things.

And I really hope my future self is a part of the movement bringing drama into kura kaupapa Māori, kura Māori and kura-a-iwi . A lot of Māori rangatahi, tamariki and talent just have that knack, you know? With Kapa Haka, with mahi marae, with mahi whanau - they just naturally have good instincts for acting. I think if we open their eyes to the acting world, or any kind of creative world, then we can get that ball rolling faster. It’s not a race, but if you know what you want to do and you’re passionate about it from a young age, you can work on your craft much quicker. 

Shout out 

There are so many creative people in my life, but the two I’m going to shout out who are working in creative spaces are:

My older sister, Faye, who is a producer and an events manager. She has been producing for a long time and has her own company called 89 where she’s rolling out some merch.

And my younger sister, Metotagivale, who is a singer and director at Pūkana with me. 

Arohanui e te whānau

E mihi ana ki a koutou

Ko taku āki nui ki a koutou, ngā rangatahi: toro atu ki ngā mea auaha, whai i te ara, mēnā he ara pai māu.

Tūwhitia te hopo, he manako te kōura i kore ai!

About Te Manawa

Te Manawa is an initiative ‘for Māori artists, by Māori artists’, grounded in whakapapa, organised by tikanga, and shaped by collective voice. 

This is a movement to amplify, activate, and advocate for Māori arts and artists in Tāmaki Makaurau - guided by the pulse of Te Manawa, Pumanawa, Whatumanawa. These three life forces are essential, shaping how we uphold Rangatiratanga, Manaakitanga, and Auahatanga in everything we do.