Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom cultural centre opens in Foxton

Dutch and New Zealand culture have been melded and celebrated in a newly opened $8.6 million centre in Foxton.

Opened on 18th November with a community festival, entertainment and food carts, after a dawn powhiri and speeches, the much-anticipated Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom cultural centre was developed to reflect the ancestry of many Dutch immigrant families in the region.

The centrally located facility houses exhibition areas, the town library  and council services along with the Oranjehof Dutch museum and the Piriharakeke Generation Inspiration Centre – a Māori museum, cultural centre and learning space with a special focus on the arts, culture and experience of hapu from all of Aotearoa.

The complex's name means ‘the new stream’, uniting the Dutch and te reo languages. Te Awahou is also the traditional name for the town and the name of the stream that flows under the new building.

Horowhenua Mayor Michael Feyen, who lives in Foxton and has Dutch ancestry, said the idea started when a Foxton group held a weaving exhibition and realised the town needed a better community space, telling local media that the facility would be about "weaving together our community".

Image: The opening of the Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom cultural centre. Courtesy of Facebook/Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom cultural centre.

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