Show description
From the depths of the night
Came forth the first glimmer of light.
Space, form and understanding ensued
To provide a full and conscious light of life and meaning
TŪRAMA
Whakahou, whakaora, whakamana
Ngā Wai o Horotiu
From the karanga of Hape welcoming early waka voyagers, to the open invitation from Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei to William Hobson to establish the settlement of Auckland in 1840, to becoming the beating heart of contemporary Tāmaki Makaurau, the Wai Horotiu valley has always been a place renowned for the extension of manaakitanga, welcome and hospitality to visitors, to guests and to ourselves.
Ancient citadels standing above, the bountiful river flowing along the valley floor to meet Te Waitematā, abundant ngahere teeming with life and song, generations of footprints left by Mana Whenua over millenia, the enduring presence of kaitiaki Horotiu; all part of a native and natural landscape now lost beneath the modern city centre’s urban form, removed from our sight.
But not from our memories. Or our future.
Tūrama is an expression of the power, mana and mauri of place and space, of what has been lost in the creation of the colonised urban form of Auckland.
A progression of freestanding light installations leads viewers from the original shoreline to the town hall. Existing mahi toi from Māori arts icons are acknowledged and celebrated alongside new work through light, form and sound to invoke the physical and metaphysical domains that remain present and prompt deeper, collective kōrero of, and about, space and place.
Tangaroa and Tāne Mahuta greet visitors at the entrances to their domains at Te Wehenga, bridging their traditional meeting point at the original coastline, the interface of wai māori and waitai. A diversity of manu and their chorus remind us that this valley was a place of natural abundance and wellbeing, with forms derived from metaphor which continue to be used in tauparapara and whaikōrero, connecting all to place and its enduring relevance. Horotiu stands to recognise the mauri of Ngā Wai o Horotiu, and in rememberance of the tūpuna whose remains were uplifted and removed from this area to enable the construction of the town hall.
Tūrama recognises the importance of ensuring that the stories that we tell each other enable an understanding of difference and diversity, allowing us to celebrate that which is common and accessible to all.
Designed and created in celebration of the national recognition of Matariki, but with the foresight to be re-deployable for other kaupapa Māori in the future,
Tūrama brings light to this place as another marker on our collective movement from Auckland to Tāmaki Makaurau, the place desired by many.
A collaborative work from mana whenua creatives, Ataahua Papa and Graham Tipene, working alongside Angus Muir Design and Te Kaunihera o Tāmaki Makaurau, Tūrama is an open invitation to all in Tāmaki Makaurau and beyond to revisit, remember, re-imagine, and refresh the mauri of the waters of Wai Horotiu valley.
I te pō tiwhatiwha
ka pakaru mai te hinātore o te ao mārama.
Ka whai ko Ātea, ko Kiko me Māramatanga
E tiaho mai ai te whānuitanga o te māramatanga,
ki ngā koiora katoa o te ao tūroa
TŪRAMA
Whakahou, whakaora, whakamana
Ngā Wai o Horotiu
Kua noho te riu o Ngā Wai o Horotiu hei wāhi rongonui mō te toronga o te manaakitanga me te rāhiri ki ngā manuwhiri me ngā iwi kāinga, mai i te karanga a Hape e whakatau ana i ngā iwi i tae mai ai i runga i ngā waka, ki te tono a Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei ki a William Hobson kia whakatūria te tāone o Tāmaki Makaurau i te tau 1840, ki te noho hei mātāpuna mō ngā āhuatanga auaha o Tāmaki Makaurau.
Tū mai ana ngā pā tawhito i runga, rere ana te awa koiora i te papa o te riu kia tūtaki atu ai ki Te Waitematā, muia ana ngā ngahere e ngā koiora, tawetawē ana i ngā oro o te taiao, takoto ana tērā ngā tapuwae o ngā reanga o ngā Mana Whenua i ngā mano tau, te pūmau o te noho o te kaitiaki, o Horotiu; koinei ngā wāhanga o te takoto o te whenua taketake o te ao tūroa kua ngaro i te tirohanga kanohi, i te whakatūnga o te ngahere raima o te pokapū tāone o te ao hou.
Heoi, e kore e wareware. He wā tōna ka kitea anō.
He whakakitenga a Tūrama nō te mana me te mauri o te takiwā me te ātea, nō ngā āhuatanga i ngaro rā i te whakatūnga o ngā tāone o tauiwi e tū ai ko Tāmaki Makaurau.
Ka arahina te hunga tirotiro i ngā toi rama kua whakatūria i tētehi ara, i te takutai taketake ki te hōro o te tāone. E tū ana ngā mahi toi a ngā mātanga toi Māori i te taha o ētehi mahi toi hou, ā-rama, ā-kiko, ā-oro hei whakaoho i te ao kikokiko me te ao wairua i aua wāhi rā, hei whakaara anō hoki i ētehi kōrero hōhonu, i ētehi kōrero whānui e pā ana ki te ātea me te takiwā.
Ka whakatauria te manuwhiri e Tangaroa rāua ko Tāne Mahuta i te waharoa ki ō rāua takiwā i Te Wehenga, e tūhono ana i te wāhi i tūtaki ai rāua i ngā wā o uki, i te takutai taketake, i te komititanga o te wai māori me te waitai. E whakamaumahara mai ana ngā momo manu me ā rātou tangi i a tātou ki te wā i makuru ai te riu nei, i nui ai hoki ōna hua, me ōna āhua i takea mai rā i te kupu whakarite e whakapuakina tonuhia nei i ngā tauparapara me ngā whaikōrero, e hono ana i ngā mea katoa ki te wāhi me tōna hiranga ukiuki. Tū ana a Horotiu hei tohu i te mauri o Ngā Wai o Horotiu, hei maharatanga anō ki ngā tūpuna i hahua ai ō rātou iwi i tēnei wāhi e wātea ai te wāhi nei hei tūnga mō te hōro o te tāone.
E tohu ana a Tūrama i te hiranga o te whakaū kia puta he māramatanga i ngā kōrero e whakawhitihia ai i waenga i a tātou ki ngā rerekētanga me te kanorau, e pai ai tā tātou whakanui i ngā āhuatanga e rite ana, e wātea ana anō hoki ki a tātou katoa.
He mea hoahoa, he mea waihanga hoki a Tūrama hei whakanui i te mānawatanga ā-motutanga o Matariki, i runga anō i te whakaaro he wā tōna ka nekehia ki kaupapa Māori kē atu, ā, ka tiaho mai tōna māramatanga ki tēnei wāhi hei tohu anō i tō tātou nekehanga i te ingoa o Auckland ki a Tāmaki Makaurau, ki te wāhi i hiahiatia ai e te tini.
He mahi tēnei i tutuki rā i ngā ringa toi nō roto i ngā mana whenua, i a Ataahua Papa rāua ko Graham Tipene, i mahi tahi rā ki a Angus Muir Design me Te Kaunihera o Tāmaki Makaurau. Anei a Tūrama, e rāhiri nei i ngā tāngata katoa kei Tāmaki Makaurau, kei tua atu rānei, kia hoki mai, kia maumahara, kia whakaaro hou, kia whakahou hoki i te mauri o ngā wai o te riu o Ngā Wai o Horotiu.
Proudly supported by Auckland Council Events.
Horotiu
Te Atamira, Aotea steps
Once a thriving river, Wai o Horotiu shaped the Queen Street valley and remains alive beneath the city, watched over by Horotiu as taniwha and kaitiaki. This presence calls us to remember the past, acknowledge sacrifice, and act with care for the waterways and communities of Tāmaki Makaurau.
Manu Korokī
Outside Civic and St James
The vibrant chorus of indigenous birdlife once resounded loudly throughout the Wai Horotiu valley, shaping the soundscape and language of Aotearoa and Tāmaki Makaurau. Manu Korokī is a collection of stylised forms of Tāmaki Makaurau birdlife in celebration of Matariki ki te Manawa and as a reminder of what once was.
Kawau tikitiki
Queen St and Durham Lane
Kawau Tikitiki is a powerful cultural symbol, often used in oratory to represent a chief or distinguished visitor. The head of the artwork looks to the east towards Takaparawha at Ōrākei, the ancestral heartland of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, acknowledging the mana and role of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei in the city centre.
Kāhu Kōrako
Cnr Queen St and Wellesley St
Kāhu Kōrako is a term for an older kāhu/hawk/New Zealand harrier whose plumage has lost the dark colouring of youth and whose feathers are pale, white or grey. It serves as a metaphor for an elderly person of mana whose wisdom and grace will assist your passage wherever you travel within the hem of their korowai (cloak).
Te Wehenga
Queen St and Shortland St
The role of waharoa in Māori architectural tradition is to physically demarcate boundary, to mark the junction of realms, states, domains and/or space, a transition point where something changes. Te Wehenga is a contemporary waharoa that has been located at this point to physically embody and mark this notion of transition, and to remind us of the native and natural ecologies of place – natural, social and cultural.
