Carved giant captures history of Pacific peoples

He taonga mo Aotearoa A gift to the nation, a gift to the world

It’s called Pou Kapua, or Cloud Pillar, and it’s set to become a major new visitor attraction for the Auckland region.

The 21 metre high, 40 tonne, carving - the biggest created in Pacific history - has now been unveiled and will become a focal point for the new $48 million TelstraClear Pacific Events Centre in Manukau City, South Auckland.

One of the most significant cultural arts projects undertaken for many years, the carving depicts the journeys and adventures of Maori and Polynesian tipuna (ancestors) and their nautical legends and histories of migration to Aotearoa New Zealand.

The Pou Kapua taonga is being gifted to the nation.

Carving of the giant pillar began three years ago, initially in Kirikiriroa (Hamilton), before being moved to Queen’s Wharf in Auckland.

The move to Auckland’s waterfront was made as the America’s Cup yachting regatta was being held there, ensuring the carving project was seen by hundreds of thousands of domestic and international visitors.

It was also a powerful way to exhibit the unique taonga (treasure) of Maori art and design, giving a positive tourism boost for the culture.

Manukau City has been chosen as the standing place of the huge carving as it has the highest population of Maori and Pacific Islands peoples in the Aotearoa. The extensive carving project has been truly inclusive of indigenous peoples of the world. In addition to the four master carvers and several team craftsmen from New Zealand who are involved, others from around the Pacific region have taken part.

Inuit carver Frank Wolfhead from Glacier Bay in Alaska has played a role in the creation of this huge, intricate, work of art, as has Professor Anthony Dieter, from the Cree Nation of Saskatchewan in Canada.

On behalf of their peoples, they have contributed to the kaupapa by carving their ancestors on Pou Kapua.

Raratongan carver Tavita Tau Maruariki also spent hundreds of hours carving the stories and figures of his people on the pillar.

Two kaitiaki, or guardians, will stand as sentinels beside Pou Kapua, each being created from Hinuera stone from the southern Waikato.

The guardians - of around 2.4 metres and weighing four tonnes - are being created by Luis Hey and Tomas Tukitepano from Rapanui (Easter Island), while Hawaiian waka (canoe) navigator Kavika Eskaran has depicted stories from the creation of the first man and the origins of his ohana (family).

And Luc Tutugoro, an indigenous Kanak carver from Noumea, is incorporating Melanesian designs into the giant base, which is being made from 50,000 year old swamp kauri.

Wikuku Kingi Junior, the project manager, designer and chief carver, says that as Maori, as the people of Aotearoa New Zealand, as iwi, and as individuals, those involved with Pou Kapua feel they have the responsibility to promote and enrich their nation, to nurture the wairua (spirit), to protect the Mauri (life force), and to uphold the mana (prestige).

“This taonga will narrate our values in a powerful and positive way,” he says. “This magnificent icon - an artistic representation and symbol of who we are and how unique we are - will be a national showcase to a global audience.”