Nau mai, haere mai! Explore the storytelling potential of Dungeons & Dragons in a half-day workshop, welcoming all newbies along with more seasoned players who want to learn how Māori perspectives can be woven into the game. This workshop is led by Ōtepoti/Dunedin-based Narrative Director and a Co-Director of Atawhai Interactive, Lisa Blakie (Ngāi Tahu, Waitaha).

Drawing on a D&D campaign designed by Lisa, set in pre-colonial Aotearoa, she will guide participants in developing characters imagined from te taiao (the natural world) and creating worlds to immerse them in. This event has been set up by Curatorial Assistant Louie Zalk-Neale as the culminating event associated with their time at TePātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery. Kaputī and snacks provided!

The current exhibitions at Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery — Megan Dunn: The Mermaid Chronicles and Lucien Rizos: Everything — are based on secret obsessions and creative practices in immersive fictional worlds which will be oozing with inspiration for the workshop participants while they're conjuring their Dungeons & Dragons worlds.

Lisa Blakie (Ngāi Tahu, Waitaha) is the Narrative Director and Co-Director of Atawhai Interactive, an indie video game studio based in Ōtepoti, New Zealand, and also a writer, an international speaker, and a community organiser. She wrote an honours dissertation about indigenous storytelling in video games, and has shared kōrero about Māori representation in video games.