This is Us - he waka eke noa is a collaborative project between Tauranga Rotary Sunrise club and The Incubator. Photo / Supplied
This is Us - he waka eke noa is a collaborative project between Tauranga Rotary Sunrise club and The Incubator. Photo / Supplied
Rows of waka hoe (paddles) tell the story of 28 Tauranga residents with one man's journey of understanding his Pacific Island cultural heritage woven into the thousands of stories in the city.
An art exhibition of 28 decorated hoe waka brings to life the vision of celebrating diversity and encouraging tolerance for other cultures.
This is Us – he waka eke noa is a collaborative project between Tauranga Rotary Sunrise club and The Incubator.
The exhibition opened last Thursday after a series of workshops where members shared their stories of how they came to be living in Tauranga.
The project developed around a carved and painted waka, which was unveiled at The Historic Village earlier this year and is currently on display.
Rotarian Les Geraghty, who took part in the workshops, told participants the project came about because of the March terror attack in Christchurch last year.
Australian Brenton Tarrant, 29, admitted 51 charges of murder, 40 of attempted murder and one charge of terrorism.
He was sentenced on Thursday to life in prison without the possibility of ever leaving jail.
"At our Rotary club, we decided that we needed to do something ... somewhere we could learn and understand."
It was two months of work for Joshua Tepou on his hoe, and two months of work on himself.
His hoe is completely black and the monochromatic colour choice symbolised the unity in everyone.
The stars represented the islands Tuvalu and Tokelau, where his family is from, the koru used to represent the journey of his family in New Zealand.
"So often we don't really think about our journey, the other people, the events in our lives that form us.
"Just thinking about our formation story is so important for us to be able to understand where we come from and who we are."
He said the project encouraged self-reflection which in turn helped identify how to make a positive influence on society.
Tepou was born in Auckland and moved to Tauranga three years ago, but said he has been working throughout his life to feel comfortable in his own identity.
His Pacific Island culture was important to him, and while he said New Zealand was a melting pot of cultures - which needed to be celebrated - there were attitudes of superiority.
This could manifest in anti-social behaviour such as racism, fascism and sexism, he said.
"Being from a minority group in a [society] that is largely western, you still are trying to find your way, and trying to understand who you are. Trying to find where you fit within society."
He said being a minority, there were feelings of "whether or not you're part of the society," when thinking about value and worth.
Tepou said a big part of loving our neighbour was being able to "celebrate the distinctive of different people".
"To value and celebrate the individual regardless of their colour, regardless of where they come from."
The workshops and exhibition are the first part of this vision with the end goal being a place or structure that people could visit.
There were 28 people who took part in the workshops. The exhibition features a short video of each person telling some of their story along with their decorated hoe (paddle).
