Piki Diamond

Piki was born and raised in Tauranga yet she is of Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Tūwharetoa descent. Piki’s initial interest and degree is in the visual arts. Her experiences through higher education led her to investigate how the knowledge embedded within visual arts education could better transmitted to Māori and in turn other indigenous student groups. Her thesis research is titled Tatau Pounamu: Embedding Māori concepts into tertiary mainstream visual art education and it analyses and synthesises some of the similarities found in Māori and Euro-centric-driven theories, model and concepts of education and in the visual arts. Piki’s hope is that her thesis may aid to bridge the gap between two socio-cultural and political views to develop a curriculum that is bi-cultural and empowering for all students.