NZ travel: Expert’s guide to Hamilton’s best Māori and Pacific art

By Ngahuia Te Awekotuku

NZ Herald·

16 Nov, 2022 08:30 PM4 mins to read

New Zealand art historian Ngahuia Te Awekotuku travels from Dunedin to Russell in a new TV series in search of Māori and Pacific artworks and the incredible people who made them. Photo / Supplied

New Zealand art historian, academic, writer and activist Ngahuia Te Awekotuku (Te Arawa, Tuhoe, Ngāpuhi Waikato) travels from Ōtepoti Dunedin to Kororareka Russell in a new TV series in search of Māori and Pacific artworks and the people who made them.

He piko, he taniwha: around every bend is something special.

Waharoa means gateway in Māori, a portal to new worlds and fresh experiences, a journey’s beginning. Waharoa: Art of the Pacific explores contemporary Māori and Pacific art throughout Aotearoa New Zealand.

One region, the Waikato and Hamilton, offers an unusual opportunity – five fine examples of modern Māori art, all accessible, touchable, remarkable, all reached by car, bicycle or on foot.

Te Ahurei o Waikato by Lyonel Grant

Hidden among lush green trees in a quiet park between the Waikato river and the Huntly Power Station, this sculpture is worth a visit. A powerful bronze figure stands before a rippling pool scattered with upright poles; and stakes a pou whenua, or marker, in the earth. This explains the name; a portrayal of the mana of the Waikato people. Trickling water and lilting birdsong welcome you into this tranquil place. To find it, cross the Tainui Bridge just south of Huntly, and at the roundabout turn right into Harris Street. Follow this to the end. Just before the power station, turn right into Te Ohaki Rd. Less than a hundred metres on, take the first unmarked right turn. Continue towards the river, until the parking area. Walk into the bush on the left of a roughly carved half fallen tree. Keep the river on your left. And then be amazed.

Te Ohomauri o Matariki by James Ormsby and Dion Hitchens

The flourishing new millennial suburb of Rototuna, north of Hamilton, is the location of this extraordinary installation of wood, metal, stone and pigment. On the roundabout of Resolution Drive and Borman Rd, this massive work represents the significance of the constellation of Matariki to the Waikato people, depicted in the seven upright canoe forms. Carved and painted by James Ormsby, they encircle a suspended tangle of twisting vigorous tuna, the dynamic work of Dion Hitchens. This refers to historical land forms, and food sources. Te Ohomauri merits a much closer look, as it directs you on to the Hamilton CBD, and two important public artworks in Victoria St.

Te Tatau ki Kirikiriroa by Robert Jahnke

Translated as the “Door to Kirikiriroa”, the original name of Hamilton, this feels and looks like a portal to another dimension. Facing the river and the rising sun on one side, and the bluster and commerce of the CBD on the other, it boldly meets the daylight, and shines with refracted neon in the darkness.

Mirrors reflect your movements, suggesting infinity, as you read the visionary words of Pōtatau te Wherowhero, the first Māori king, inscribed on the corten steel surface. After you contemplate the Waikato river gliding below, you stroll south on the main street, to the forecourt of the Waikato Museum.

Te Tatau ki Kirikiriroa by Robert Jahnke translates to 'the door to Kirikiriroa', the original name of Hamilton. Photo / Supplied

Tongue of the Dog by Michael Parekōwhai

Vibrant and very cheeky, this sculpture sparkles with bright primary colours on the simplest structural form. It is based on Cuisenaire rods, a teaching device of plastic sticks that contributed significantly to the revival of te reo Māori. Cascading water catches the light in a gentle rhythm that urges you to play with the dog, and maybe get licked by its tongue. At a sober intersection near the cathedral, boat houses and other historic sites, this frivolously clever work lightens the heart, and clamours for your attention.

Vibrant and cheeky, Tongue of the Dog by Michael Parekowhai is one of the sculptures to look out for in Hamilton. Photo / Supplied

Ngā Uri o Hinetuparimaunga by Diggeress Te Kanawa & Chris Booth

This majestic installation is sited at the roundabout turning in to the Hamilton Gardens on Cobham Drive. Named for the descendants of the Mountain Goddess, it is an effective collaboration of cultures, ideas, materials. The principal feature is Te Kahu o Papatūānuku, the Mantle of the Earth Goddess, designed by Diggeress te Kanawa, based on one of her finest fibre cloaks. It comprises 12,000 rocks, layered, patterned, and textured, easy to touch and and probe with your hands; the Kahu stands among Chris Booth’s 21 upright sentinel columns, suggesting safety and peace. Through the grandeur and singularity of this waharoa, we are welcomed and farewelled; our time with Waharoa is over in Waikato.