Casters have successfully replicated the eight wooden tekoteko and four 'wheku form' pou that originally surrounded and supported the memorial. Photo / Supplied
Casters have successfully replicated the eight wooden tekoteko and four 'wheku form' pou that originally surrounded and supported the memorial. Photo / Supplied
Casting traditional art forms in bronze has helped save 90-year-old carvings for future generations.
While the traditional art form of wood carving has long been an integral part of Māori arts and crafts, artists at New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute (NZMACI) are now taking existing pieces and replicating them in bronze to help ensure their longevity.
A prime example of this work is Rotorua's Te Arawa Soldiers' Memorial where casters have successfully replicated the eight wooden tekoteko and four 'wheku form' pou that originally surrounded and supported the memorial.
The memorial commemorates Te Arawa men who fought and died in World War I.
Casters have successfully replicated the eight wooden tekoteko and four 'wheku form' pou that originally surrounded and supported the memorial. Photo / Supplied
The restored memorial will be unveiled at a dawn ceremony at the Government Gardens on February 28, 92 years to the day since it was originally unveiled by the then Duke of York during a Royal visit in 1927.
NZMACI head caster Eugene Kara said kaupapa like the Te Arawa Soldiers' Memorial supported the institute's cultural and educational mandate and bronze casting was now having a significant part to play in this.
The institute opened its bronze foundry Te Ahi Kōmau in 2013 and since then artists have completed a number of significant pieces.
"Many might consider bronze to be contemporary in terms of Māori culture, however, Māori have always adapted to and adopted new technology, tools and processes and this is yet another way we are doing this," Kara said.
1927 visit of the Duke and Duchess of York and the unveiling of the Te Arawa Soldiers' Memorial. Photo / File
"While materials may change over time the thought processes that underpin Māori material culture define their connection to the past. Reflecting traditional carvings into bronze is one way we can ensure the longevity of our work."
The casting process starts with taking a silicone mould of a wooden carving which wax is then poured into. Once it has set the wax is removed and encased in a ceramic shell.
When the shell is heated the wax melts and can be poured off creating a space for molten bronze to be poured into. Once the bronze has set the final stage is to remove the ceramic shell revealing the new bronze artwork.
The casters use water from Te Whakarewarewa Thermal Valley's sulphur-chloride pools to tarnish the bronze making it a process distinctive to the institute.
NZMACI general manager Eraia Kiel said artists had captured the finest elements of the memorial's original wood carving.
Rotorua's Te Arawa Soldiers' Memorial. Photo / File
"It's been a two-year project with many hours spent replicating pieces that were almost lost. 3D scans and wax moulds were made of the carvings before the bronze was cast to ensure the replication was accurate and to prevent further damage.
"Reinstating the significant elements of the memorial is a way to restore the mana attached to the memorial and those it commemorates. It also enables future generations, Te Arawa descendants, manuhiri and the wider community to appreciate a unique piece of Rotorua district's history," he said.
The restoration of the Te Arawa Soldiers' Memorial also included the repair of the memorial's stonework and the replication of the stone statue of Te Arawa ancestor Rangitihi, which was badly damaged and removed from the memorial in 1936.
n 2016 the Rotorua District WW100 Commemorations Committee announced the memorial would be restored as part of the district's World War I commemorations as it had deteriorated over the years and had also been vandalised.
Originally due to be unveiled in time for Armistice Day in November last year, the memorial will now be unveiled this week.
At an Operations and Monitoring Committee meeting last November the reason for the delay was reported to be because the recreation of the carving of Rangitihi was taking a little longer than expected.
