Stretching to seven metres high, this impressive artwork stands between two buildings in Auckland's inner city. Depicting the taurapa (stern-post) and tauihu (prow) of a large ancestral waka (canoe), *Te Waka Taumata o Horotiu / Resting Waka* was commissioned by Auckland City Council with the Queen Street upgrade of 2008. Fred Graham's sculpture marks the site of the area’s original foreshore and the former landing place of waka belonging to the Ngāti Whātua and Ngāti Paoa people (of which the Tainui waka is the most well-known). This site was once a beach on which the Ngāti Paoa people kept their waka, and is now the bustling commercial corner of Queen and Swanson Streets.

Encircling the top of the sculpture is a flock of sculpted stainless-steel sea birds that nod to the resource-rich coasts of Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland. The tauihu, which is the lower part of the sculpture, is shaped like a resting bird that has found a safe place to settle and tucked in its beak so that it is pointing back towards its tail.

In English, waka taumata translates as resting canoe, and the name Horotiu refers to the ancient stream that runs beneath Queen Street. Graham’s sculpture was constructed in weathered steel, so that the rusting brown colour would give the impression that the taurapa had been anchored there for centuries, with the city growing up around it.

Te Waka Taumata o Horotiu (Resting Waka)

This mirrored sculpture seems to float effortlessly high above O'Connell Street in central Auckland, highlighting the heritage architecture and character of the area, portraying changing reflections of the sky, buildings and people. It gently pivots, reflects and casts moving light to catch the eye - up close and at a distance.

*Light Weight O* is a mirror-faced, brass-backed, 2.4 m diameter object -  an 'O' -  suspended to take on the entire setting rather than focusing on a specific building. The artwork hangs between 5 and 10 O'Connell Street, where two notable 1925 heritage buildings are located; the Royal Exchange Assurance Building, which combines modern and classical influences, and the Administrator House with its impressive Oamaru Stone exterior.



"The artwork encourages those who walk through O'Connell Street to observe the above and the below and consider the space between. It brings to attention the sky, framed by the built environment, and the earth beneath," says Griffiths.

Light Weight O

This zigzagged line of neon stretches from one end of Fort Lane to the other, traveling up and down and side-to-side. A luminescent red colour, *Eyelight Lane* glows day and night, illuminating the pipes, bricks, windows and doorways of the lane. It adds an energy to the space, and, moving above passersby at the height of the first storey of the buildings on either side, this work encourages them to slow down, take notice and look up.

*Eyelight Lane* is a reminder of the earlier significance of Fort Lane; a service entrance to the historic buildings that are on Queen Street, and more recently, as part of the red-light district. The southern end of Fort Lane was the foreshore of the original settlement of Auckland and the area is the most historic part of the city centre.

Created by Swedish artist David Svensson from 120 metres of luminous neon, the work has been lighting up the space since it was switched on in February 2014 and is best viewed at night. It is typical of Svensson's work in that he often uses light as a sculpture to create environments.

Eyelight Lane

These hand woven tukutuku (ornamental latticework) panels were presented to the New Zealand Pioneers' and Descendants' Club by Mr and Mrs Eruera Stirling. They were a gift to mark the occasion of the opening of the Pioneer Women's Hall in 1962. Ōrākei marae weavers restored both the pātū (screen) and tukutuku areas for the re-opening of the venue in 2017 which was renamed the Ellen Melville Centre.

Historically tukutuku were used around the walls of Māori meeting houses, particularly between carvings. The panels consist of vertical stakes often made of toetoe - kākaho (stems of a native grass-like plant).

The interwoven horizontal rods are traditionally made from tōtara (native timber) or stalks of bracken-fern. Kiekie (native flax) and pīngao (golden sand sedge) are used to form the patterning.

Fred Graham

Te Waka Taumata o Horotiu (Resting Waka)

"Towering above passing pedestrians, this taurapa marks the original foreshore and landing place of Ngāti Whātua and Ngāti Paoa waka."

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