Pīwakawaka Series 1- 4
Artist: Rosemary Petterson
Size: approx 190mm length
Medium: 3D printed PLA plastic
Price: $85 each RRP
Exhibition: Mar 2016
Harbourview Sculpture Trail
Te Atatu Peninsula, Auckland
He manu Māori,
He kaitiaki tapu,
He kaiwero hei tū i raro i te tika me te pono
Pīwakawaka is a small bird, yet full of energy, the kaiwero (challenger) for anyone that enters te wao nui o Tāne (the sacred forest), challenging them all, to be respectful of the great Forests of Tāne and all within it.
This installation of Pīwakawaka is a series of fantail birds, 3D printed with an intricate and delicate looking ‘lace-like’ framework. The ‘lace’ is made up of a blending of cultural patterns of Māori, Victorian, Chinese and Middle Eastern origin.
These Pīwakawaka reflect the tension of retaining cultural identity and the integration or fusing of peoples, religions and races. How do we, as an increasingly global people, hold and value each other’s cultural and religious identities? And honour each other in a bi-cultural/multi-cultural way? How do we as the people of Aotearoa honour and value tāngata whenua in a way that upholds the mana of the Treaty, working together in equal partnership and kotahitanga (unity) and not just continuing to take from the people and whenua (land) without also giving in return.
The Pīwakawaka is a symbol of the wero (challenge) that is laid before us. When we enter these sacred domains, when we come to this whenua, do we come in peace and love, honesty and truth?
Nau mai tātou i te aroha, te tika, te pono me te rangimārie
