Our Approach
At Whenua Whispers, our storytelling and creative work is deeply rooted in time, trust, and place. We prioritise listening and building relationships to capture authentic narratives, focusing on real people, places, and experiences. Our commitment to accuracy, respect, and community ensures that every story is represented with care and honesty. We value depth over scale, ensuring our work serves the people and places it comes from.
Featured Projects
Discover our collection of creative work, including books, visual stories, and community collaborations. Each project showcases our dedication to authentic storytelling and meaningful engagement.
Whenua Whispers: Voices from the Land
Explore our cornerstone oral-history and storytelling project, capturing local knowledge, memory, and lived experience rooted in Aotearoa. Connect with the stories that shape our community. Our work is intended for new readers, potential collaborators, and community groups
A Dream Makers Trust Project
Whenua Whispers is delivered as part of Dream Makers Trust’s commitment to supporting people, place-based knowledge, and community-led storytelling. The project reflects DMT’s focus on listening first, working alongside communities, and creating long-term value through care, context, and lived experience.
What Whenua Whispers Does
Whenua Whispers records, preserves, and shares local stories rooted in place, memory, and lived experience. Through oral histories, writing, visual storytelling, and community-led projects, we work alongside people to ensure their voices are heard, respected, and carried forward.
Our focus is on authenticity, trust, and long-term cultural value rather than fast content or surface-level storytelling.
Voices from the Land
Voices from the Land is the flagship Whenua Whispers project, focused on recording and preserving the lived stories of people connected to the whenua of the Waimarino and surrounding districts.
Through long-form interviews, careful listening, and respectful collaboration, the project captures memories, histories, and perspectives that are often overlooked or at risk of being lost. These stories are shared through print, digital, and community formats to ensure they remain accessible for future generations.
This work prioritises authenticity, trust, and long-term cultural value over fast or surface-level storytelling.
Who this work is For
Whenua Whispers is created alongside community members, whānau, and individuals whose stories are deeply connected to place and lived experience. The work centres people who may not otherwise see their histories recorded, valued, or carried forward.
Participation is guided by trust, consent, and care. Stories are shared only in ways that honour the people who tell them, respecting both personal boundaries and cultural context.
This project is for communities who want their voices treated with dignity, patience, and long-term respect rather than urgency or extraction.
Looking Ahead
Whenua Whispers is an evolving project. Its direction is shaped by the people involved, the stories that are shared, and the pace at which trust is built. Rather than setting fixed outcomes or timelines, the work remains responsive to community needs and circumstances.
As the project continues, Whenua Whispers aims to deepen its archive of local voices, explore new ways of sharing stories, and support intergenerational connection without losing sight of care, consent, and context. What comes next will be guided by listening, not pressure, and by relationships, not reach.