To celebrate Matariki 2019, Charles and Janine Williams and the Papakura Art Gallery joined up to create the Ako Art Bus Tour which was a free event showcasing the brilliant work of Charles and Janine.
Ako is an acronym for Art Kindles Oneness. Ako is the Maori pedagogical concept that encompasses both teaching and learning as part of the same process. The Papakura Art Gallery aims to bring community together to share and learn from each other through art…hence the concept of the Ako Art Bus Tour. (I pinched this from the brochure…you know I can’t pronounce let along spell these big words myself!).
^^Lisa admiring the piece of art I really wanted to buy…new house…artwork…new house…artwork…I left empty handed as I want to buy a house.
Since arriving back to New Zealand, I’ve been admiring their murals without knowing who the artists were so it was such a joy to actually meet Charles and Janine in person and see more of their work and the meaning behind each piece.
The couple work closely with local businesses and iwi and each mural has many special meanings…nothing is as simple as it looks.
They’ve created a new gang…the Bird Gang as most of their murals feature a beautiful indigenous bird of New Zealand…
…for a gal whom is afraid of birds, these big birds don’t have me crouching in the corner rocking back and forward. Here are a few of the spots we visited yesterday around Auckland on the Ako Art Bus Tour –
Clendon Pak n Save
The franchise owner of the Clendon Pak n Save commissioned a mural for the side of the building…and at 42 metres it’s a biggie.
It brings together Home, Land, Sea in various shapes in the mural while also explaining how Manurewa received its name.
^^I overheard these two boys talking about the story of how Manurewa gained its name and how they never knew the story until today…knowledge is power but also how fabulous was it that people not even on the tour learnt something new…every day is a school day.
And because…can anyone walk past a bright and colourful mural and not want to take a photo.
Manukau City Shopping Centre
You’ll be able to spot a few murals at Manukau City Shopping Centre…from Haere Mai…with the beautiful Tui…
…and the continuation of the bright and cheerful wall which was too good not to take a photograph with.
If you walk around the outside of the shopping mall, you will stumble along the mural named Rerenga which means Flowing or Journey. Starting with the beautiful Kowhai…which Tui’s absolutely adore and I was actually wearing a pair of Kowhai earrings that day (Kowhai means Yellow)…
…and then we followed various national flowers of different countries along the wall…this brings together the changing diversity of the area including the national flower for South Africa and Samoa just to name a few…
…and finishing with a beautiful Tui…one of my favourite native birds of New Zealand.
The triangles are there to provide direction but also many indigenous tribes have triangles in their cultural designs hence the triangles brings inclusivity into the murals.
^^I suck at taking jumping photos…fail Kel…fail!
Otahuhu Toia Precinct
We jumped on the free bus that Auckland Council had provided for the tour (thank you!) and headed towards Otahuhu that was flooded in a sea of red as Tonga were playing New Zealand yesterday afternoon in Rugby League.
Toia translates into dragging, hauling and pulling…Auckland has two harbours…the Waitemata Harbour and the Manukau Harbour and there is approximately a 16 km stretch of land between the two. Rather than taking the journey by sea around the coast…the waka (English translation: canoe or Maori vessel) would be rolled between the two harbours.
While here, you can’t miss the David Lange Memorial (he was the Prime Minister of New Zealand when I was a kid…did I ever share the Jim Bolger story with you were I thought this man at the airport in Qatar looked familiar so thought I better offer to carry his bag as maybe he was one of dad’s friends (he declined)…no another ex Prime Minster of New Zealand…it clicked when the lovely cabin crew said his name…phew!) which is actually quite stunning…the memorial, not the silly mistaken identity.
Dobrodosli…Croatian…our grandfather was born in Croatia and there is a huge Croatian community in Auckland.
Papakura High School
We stopped off to see the giant Bellbird at Papakura High School…there were discussions that the school would be closed down a few years ago due to a falling headcount…
…this mural was created after they decided to keep the school open and I absolutely love it!
He Tangata is part of a Maori proverb –
He aha te mea nui o te ao
What is the most important thing in the world?
He tangata, he tangata, he tangata
It is the people, it is the people, it is the people
Papakura Art Gallery
Last but not least is the beautiful Kereru found on the Papakura Art Gallery…it’s hard to miss.
You know I love murals…
…I was in my happy place on this tour.
A big thank you to Charles and Janine Williams for taking us on the tour and explaining the concept behind each piece of work (you’ve inspired me to check out more of your beautiful works around New Zealand) and to Papakura Art Gallery for organising the tour to celebrate Matariki 2019.
What is Matariki?
The star cluster Matariki appears in our skies in the month of Pipiri (June–July), marking the start of the Māori New Year. This is the coldest time of the year and Pipiri means ‘to draw close’.
It’s a time to come together with your friends, whānau, and communities. It’s about eating, reflecting, having fun, and looking forward to the year ahead.
Click here to learn more about Matariki
You can learn out more about Charles and Janine Williams on their website.
xx
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