21m cloud pillar carving stands tall

Jug Rakatau sits astride Pou Kapua which, when finished, will be 21m tall. Picture / Richard Robinson

Everything about a Maori/Pacific carving set to dominate the attention of visitors to the yet-to-be-completed Manukau Pacific events centre is massive.

But it is not just the dimensions of the 40-tonne and 21m (69 feet) tall Pou Kapua (cloud pillar), that are large. The project has clocked up an estimated cost of more than $4 million and involved 30 national and international carvers over three years.

The carving will be the centrepiece of the entrance of the $48 million TelstraClear Pacific Events Centre set to open next month.

Project co-ordinator and Tainui master-carver Wikuki Kingi said the project, first put together in Hamilton in 2002, had been an ongoing battle for funding, resource consent, and approval by Auckland-based iwi.

The carving, which portrays ancient sea migrations of Maori, Polynesian and indigenous peoples around the Pacific, is cut from ancient kauri gifted by the tribes of Northland's Tai Tokerau.

It was to be erected at the Viaduct Basin's harbour entrance in time for America's Cup finals in March 2003.

But Mr Kingi said bureaucratic red tape and tribal politics delayed completion, and forced negotiations to find further funding and a new site for the work to be completed.

The project has been forced to move five times between Hamilton, the Viaduct Basin, and Auckland University of Technology Mangere's Te Puea marae.

Mr Kingi estimated the cost of the project at around $4 million.

"There is $2 million worth of 2000- year-old kauri for a start, gifted by Northland iwi."

He said the balance had come from sponsors including ASB and The Warehouse and Government funding, with a mix of "about 60 per cent sponsorship and 40 per cent Government funding".

"It's the biggest in the world ... well certainly that we are aware of."

Mr Kingi said there were mixed emotions as the project neared completion.

"There is a feeling of pride mixed with sadness. It has been with us so long, we do not want to see it go."

The pou, harnessing the work of Maori, Tongan, Samoan, Peruvian, Cook Island, Alaskan, and Canadian Cree Indian carvers, is seen as a reflection of South Auckland's cultural diversity.