Stained glass window celebrates Whanganui’s diverse communities

The Welcoming Communities window.

A new stained glass window celebrating the diverse ethnic communities of Whanganui is now on display in the council chambers.

The window was funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and delivered through Whanganui’s Welcoming Communities Committee which represents local ethnic communities and supports the council’s Welcoming Communities Plan.

The council’s community wellbeing manager, Lauren Tamehana, says the window installation marks the beginning of Welcoming Week Te Wiki o Manaaki which runs from September 6 to 15.

“Welcoming Week is a time to show whanaungatanga (the importance of relationships) and manaakitanga (the value of extending hospitality and caring for other people) to newcomers, and it’s great to have this visible representation of that in our council chambers,” Lauren Tamehana says.

The new window is the 25th addition to the stained glass window series, known as The Whanganui Story; a long-standing stained glass window project in the council chambers that highlights the people, events and places that have shaped Whanganui.

The Whanganui Story displays the range of community support from sponsors over the years, from Suzuki New Zealand’s ode to Rod Coleman and Whanganui’s annual Cemetery Circuit, to the window sponsored by the Whanganui branch of the National Council of Women commemorating three notable Whanganui-based suffragists. Each window opens viewers to a different facet of Whanganui’s history.

The Welcoming Communities Advisory Group noted, “We are delighted to have this special window to tell the story of our diverse ethnic communities and feel privileged to be part of The Whanganui Story.”

“The Welcoming Communities window reflects the many residents who have already, and continue to, enrich Whanganui – from the market gardens of some Chinese communities in the 1940s and 50s to the Indian and Pasifika communities providing a valuable skill base since the 1930s, and the many other groups that make our city a wonderful place.”

Artists Julie Greig and Greg Hall worked with the Welcoming Communities group to design a window that would reflect Whanganui’s deep-rooted diversity and the experience for newcomers to Whanganui.

The artists said the central hands meeting in the foreground sit as a marker of unity amongst diversity.

The tree above this symbolises the migrant experience with the roots showing the many cultural traditions and identities, which find fertile soil sustained by the Whanganui River flowing across the panel, leading to new growth and flourishing communities.

Finally, the colourful selection of glass surrounding this shows the vibrancy that overflows from diversity.

To find out about tours of The Whanganui Story windows, or to hear about sponsorship, email the council’s creative community adviser at anique.jayasinghe@whanganui.govt.nz

You can find information about welcoming newcomers to Whanganui here:

• Whanganui Newcomers Network – https://newcomers.co.nz/whanganui
• Whanganui District Council’s guide - https://www.whanganui.govt.nz/About-Whanganui/Newcomers-Guide-to-Whanganui