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Tūmanako (Hope) Mural

Title of artwork: Tūmanako (Hope) Mural

Artist: Mr G (Graham Hoete) + rangatahi from Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Whānau Tahi, Te Aratai College, Avonside Girls’ High School, Te Pā o Rākaihautū, and Noaia.

Date: 2023

Category of work: Mural

Media: Aerosol paint on plywood, sealed

Where you can see it: Worcester Boulevard

Thanks to: Te Puni Kōkiri (Ministry of Māori Development), Christchurch City Council Place Partnership Fund.

 

Te Puni Kōkiri commissioned multidisciplinary artist/designer Mr G (Graham Hoete) to work with local rangatahi youth, resulting in this large community mural for all to enjoy.

Arts Centre trustee Corban Te Aika and The Arts Centre team from Te Whare Tapere (Ngaio Cowell, Juanita Hepi) spent time with Mr G to share knowledge and insight into local history, visiting Māori sites of ancestral significance (wāhi tapu) and historical sites in Ōtautahi, and bringing stories of tūmanako (hope) from the rohe.

Fifty rangatahi attended a one-day wananga with Mr G where they learnt local history, the cultural narrative of the site, aerosol drawing techniques, and a session on coming through depression and hope. The young people returned several weeks later and spent four days creating the mural. Extended family, teachers, social workers, neighbours – anyone who was important to the rangatahi – were encouraged to visit and view the art process live.

The murals use vibrant colours inspired by the stained glass in the Great Hall. From left to right, the panels depict:

  • Tuna (eel) and harakeke (flax) referencing this area once being for collecting kai.
  • A building flanked by tī kouka (cabbage trees) based on a historic painting of the original pā near Kaiapoi.
  • Heart and hands, coming together in community.
  • Poutama: “The poutama is a traditional Māori pattern that is common throughout Māori weaving and artwork. It means stairs, or stairway to heaven, and symbolises whakapapa or genealogy, and also the pursuit of knowledge and levels of advancement and growth.”
  • The words “Kia atawhai ki te iwi” mean ‘be kind to your people’, an invocation by Pita Te Hori, first Upoko of Ngāi Tūāhuriri, to the founders of Christchurch in 1861.
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