Waimahara artist Graham Tipene with composer Moeahi Kerehoma at the art installation located in Myers Park. Photo / Dean Purcell
Waimahara artist Graham Tipene with composer Moeahi Kerehoma at the art installation located in Myers Park. Photo / Dean Purcell
A public art work in central Tāmaki Makaurau is the world’s first exhibition that sings along with its audience.
Waimahara is the brainchild of local artist Graham Tipene who, with the help of technology specialists IION and a composer team that have written two original waiata for the work, wants to people to be fully immersed in the experience.
“With most artwork, you stand in front of it,” TIpene said. “But I wanted us to think differently with this one. I wanted the experience to surround you. I wanted this artwork to ask you to prepare your senses - to look, feel and listen.”
Waimahara is a fully immersive experience in the Myers Park underpass. Photo / Dean Purcell
The installation originally opened last December with a constantly changing display of audio and light triggered by movement from people and changes in the weather.
Now the experience has developed to respond to singing and will sing back and accompany with a corresponding light show.
“If you learn one of the waiata and sing it into the sculptural sensor positioned on the boardwalk, you’ll trigger an elaborate audio and light response to accompany you,” explained Auckland councillor Richard Hills. “Or if you prefer not to sing, you can still watch others perform or experience a more subtle, ambient display of light and sound with your presence in the underpass.”
It’s an experience that Hills describes as “epic”. He says that it will become multi-dimensional - an outdoor stage, a celebration of Māori in Tāmaki Makaurau, new tourism destination, gathering point, venue for future activations, and a place for education where the arts and technology combine in a beautiful collision.
The installation responds to sound with lights and will sing along to waiata composed for the work. Photo / Dean Purcell
Tipene says he wanted this artwork to support feelings of inclusiveness, belonging and welcome, by asking people to take part.
“It’s about whakarongo [awakening the senses] and trying to make an emotional connection. If you sing the right notes – the tune, the pitch – this artwork will ‘sing’ with you,” Tipene said.
Tarumai-i-tawhiti Kerehoma-Hoani, one of the composers for the project, says the waiata speak about the importance of water in te ao Māori.
“We talk about recognising and always acknowledging our environment – the wind, the rain – how the cycle of life continues and is everlasting,” she said. “It’s good to have an understanding of how we fit into this world. When we understand that in its entirety, we’re able to foster and be the guardians that we should be for the water, the land and the air that we breathe.”
One of the light works on display with Waimahara. Photo / Auckland Council
The redevelopment of Myers Park also incorporates a wetland area for storm water mitigation with hundreds of new plantings and has already proved its worth in the heavy rains of 2023. The boardwalk covers a flood wall that protects the Town Hall area below the park.
Michael Brown project manager for the Myers Park, upgrade says that retaining the wall worked very well during the Anniversary Weekend floods of January 2023.
“[The wall] did its job really well and validated the decision to be preserved as an important part of the park.”
Waimahara means a remembering of water, and a remembering of Te Waihorotiu, the stream that flows quietly underneath the underpass.
The artwork and public works honour not just the cultural contribution but also reminds us of our place within the wider environment.
