A Tapestry of Climate and Community: An arts-informed community autoethnography of a student music therapist working with a community impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle in Aotearoa.

Natural disasters are increasing in frequency globally in response to anthropogenic climate change. In February 2023, Cyclone Gabrielle decimated Te-Matau-a-Māui (Hawkes Bay), my hometown. This research seeks to answer the question “how did I as a student music therapist identify and respond to the needs/aspirations of a community significantly impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle during two school terms of weekly music therapy?”. An arts-informed community autoethnography was used to investigate this question. Meaning was co-created through synthesis of literature, voices of community members, co-facilitators of the music therapy and my own session notes and reflections which included arts-based responses to my practice. Embracing the bicultural context of Aotearoa (New Zealand), this research sought to attune to Māori worldviews, guided by engagement with Māori leaders in Te-Matau-a-Māui and Te Herenga Waka (Victoria University, Wellington). The research suggested the community needed to come together and take a collective break from their circumstances in a way that was uplifting and fun. These aspirations were captured in te reo (Māori language) as whakawhanaungatanga (process of creating relationships that includes interconnectivity between all living beings) and ‘attending to wairua’ (space and place where motivation and inspiration if found). Music-centredness is explored in depth as a safe yet potent response to addressing collective trauma following a natural disaster. Ecological and systems approaches were also identified as relevant in this context. Music therapy was viewed to be part of a complex tapestry of what is needed to promote wellbeing in circumstances where environmental instability is present. Eco music therapy as an emerging theory and approach is presented to shift music therapy discourse towards responding to the climate crisis more explicitly.