Arahura

 

This week's mural is another one from the Hokitika pathway. Named "Arahura" a Maori te reo word meaning "pathway to dawn" by Andrew Dempster and here is some information I found about him:

Andrew's life is immersed in art, from a love of art school, attending art school and teaching art at secondary school. He enjoys seeing young peoples creativity unfold and grow while also unleashing his own artistic talents in fresh works. 

Linking up with Monday Murals and Mosaic Monday.

Please decide

 Another Kaikohe mural - this one is in the Marino Court area. After googling it I think this one maybe have been painted by kiwi Denis Wilford.  "Whakatau MaiRa" means in Maori "Please decide". 

Linking up with Mural Monday.

Kaitiaki II by Fred Graham

Nevermind the electric bicycle to the right of this photo, what caught my eye was this large sculpture on the outside of the BNZ Bank in Queen Street, Auckland City.

Named Kaitiaki II (meaning food and protection) by Fred Graham it symbolizes the original foreshore and former waka (canoe) landing area before this place was reclaimed. It sits on the same site as where the Ngati Paoa Iwi kept their canoes.

I think it's quite a clever piece and I like the way it prompts me to research the Maori history of NZ.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday and My Corner of the World.

Opotiki Maori Pou

This rather impressive carved pou (post) sits in the middle of one of the main streets of Opotiki in the Bay of Plenty. Apparently it represents a variety of activities from the 19th century settlement of the town including including agriculture, horticulture and trading.

Behind the carving is a historical building known locally as the Old Bridger's Building and was once a drapery store. Over the years it has been used as a government office building, for education, dental surgery, factory workshop and a restaurant/cafe.  These days there is a small mural on one side and a jeweler's on the other side but there are various buildings in this town that look just as empty and unused.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday and Wednesday Around the World.

Maori waves in Paihia

We were in Paihia earlier this week and as we turned into where a market day was being held this sculpture caught my eye. I'm not sure who created it, I have researched but haven't had any luck. To me it looks like it symbolizes waves or water - behind it is a souvenir shop on the wharf. Paihia is very busy from October until late March as the cruise ships stop here when they are in port so there were alot of people exploring the town.

Linking up with Wednesday around the world.

Cable Bay sealife sculptures

Cable Bay also known as Taipa in Northland, NZ is just absolutely stunning. We stopped off here on our road trip to check out this beach and couldn't help but stop and admire these sculptures for sale on the grass verge.

These fish, whales, dolphins and other sea creatures are made from various types of wood and include pieces of paua shell for eyes and other decorations.

The young man who was selling them owns his own gypsy type truck and looked like a bit of a hobo but honestly those are the best type of people to meet in life.

Let me tell you I was very very tempted to buy some. They were ranging from $50nzd to $500nzd and they would've looked great on a wall in our apartment but sadly all of our money was destined to be spent on petrol and living expenses while we were up there.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday for this one :-)

Tauranga Art Gallery

This morning for my birthday (I turned 47 today) we visited the Tauranga Art Gallery.  I have mixed thoughts about this place. My grandfather was an artist and painted paintings in water colour and oils, he held exhibitions in Auckland city during the 1960s so I guess that's what I'm use to.

This section "Future Islands" was alot of fun, in particular I liked the Maori storage hut (above) which appears to have a small ornament of the white house inside it, possibly made from bone, we weren't sure.

This area produced by Charles Walker and Kathy Waghorn represents real and imagined projects that show the diversity of our architecture.

The "road at the end of the universe" was a lit up section in another room, we couldn't quite figure it  out but it's creative nonetheless.

I loved this one titled "the space between" by James Ormsby. To me it shows the ground and what's under the sky.

The gallery as we were walking up the stairs with a resident artist illustrating a long scroll from his perch.

This one was cool. "Postcard to Doctor Jacoby" by Hannah and Aaron Beehre was interactive. You can't see in this photo but there were tiny fireflies swarming around the picture whenever you put your hands near it.

I looked at this and had 3 thoughts....what a huge mess, I like the colours and I pity the person that has to clean this up. Weaving Forest by Super Nature.

These bowls were made by The Bowl Exchange and called "Ace Firers".

And just behind the bowls were the Resolution Series of Captain Clerke and an unknown Maori person by Tane Ma. The person behind the wall was exploring a virtual reality of Maori images.

All in all I think although it was interesting for us to see how much art has come along, in particular digital art we were a bit disappointed as we had expected perhaps more paintings by local artists both historical and modern.