Who is Riria Hotere?
Riria is one of Te Papa's multi-talented education team,
so her days are filled with interpreting the mysteries and miracles
of the national collection to school groups from around the
motu.
From Ngati Maniapoto and Te Aupouri descent, Riria has followed the
footsteps of her mother Kahu into both acting and education
roles.
Riria and her mother appeared together in the acclaimed theatre
production 'Women Far Walking', which took Riria as far as
Manchester, Cardiff and Palau. It is one of several Nancy Brunning
directed plays from Taki Rua theatre in which she has
appeared.
On TV, she is best known as core cast member Mere Tuhaka from
the Maori Television language series, 'Korero Mai', which also gets
her behind the camera as a director on the weekly soap,
Akina.
Like Simon she has had a diverse work history that includes care
for the elderly, records management and relief teaching.
Fluent in te reo, Riria also grew up with Japanese and Spanish
cultures and studied Spanish at University.
With 800 school groups touring Te Papa each year, she puts all her
presentation and cultural skills to work each day, teaching or
presenting. (Or both at the same time.)
