Munro Te Whata

Munro Te Whata is a creative artist of Māori and Niuean descent, from the village of Makefu and the iwi of Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Porou, based in South Auckland. Growing up on cartoons, games, and comics fuelled his imagination, but he often longed to see his own identity reflected in those stories. This led him to spend his free time drawing and creating characters that represented his culture — a connection he sought to strengthen while growing up in the city. Munro began learning animation at 16 and landed his first industry job a few years later, working on Bro’Town for four seasons. He later served as an animation director at Māori TV. After several years in animation, he explored other creative fields including game design, film, teaching, and creative direction, eventually focusing on illustration