Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei x Resene

We recently launched Ko ngā tae i tāmokongia ki te Kahu Tōpuni o Tuperiri, our own Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei bespoke paint palette with Resene, which will be used within our projects including our maintenance programme for homes on the papa kāinga,  and residential developments like Oneoneroa.

The colours were carefully curated and named to better reflect our Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei identity.

The idea to create the first Resene palette in collaboration with iwi was initiated two years ago and was born from the mahi that our residential team, led by Arepa Morehu, carries out in maintaining our whānau whare in Orākei. Given the quantity of paint that Whai Rawa uses each year – more than 2,000 litres in fact – there was an opportunity to look at different ways when selecting from the existing paint colour options.

Resene was a good fit for the collab with Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, as they are also a family-owned business and have been named in the top ten most trusted brands in Aotearoa for 12 years in a row. We felt as though they shared many of the same values, particularly around sustainability and kaitiakitanga, which was important to us.

To ensure the colours reflected the Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, the first step to turning this project into a reality was to get whānau involved. We asked whānau for photos and ideas of colours that they thought reflected the iwi. We narrowed down the range to 52 colours and sought advice from one of our matanga reo Ropata Paora to provide ingoa for each of the colours.

We hosted a launch event at the Resene Colour Shop in Ōrākei in early May. Artist Hana Maihi created a custom image for the occasion for our kaumātua and some of our tamariki to test the colours out on. Everything in the print was sketched purposely to enable whānau to use every colour in the palette, providing lots of fun for everyone who gave it a go.

For now, only whānau can purchase the colours in the palette – however it is available at all Resene stores across Australia and Aotearoa.

This is the first project that Resene and Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei have completed, and we’re already looking at how we can work together in the future. Kia mau tonu mai!

Click here for more information on the palette including the colours and how to download Hana’s print.