Sitting in Taumanu Reserve on the restored Onehunga foreshore, *Brick Wave*  invites people to gaze out to the harbour heads. The functional sculpture is placed between the sea edge and the main pathway giving the impression of a breaking wave. Artist Peter Lange often uses reinforced bricks and mortar as a sculptural material to challenge the perception of bricks as construction material.

Lange is a leading figure in the New Zealand ceramics scene and has been involved with the Auckland Studio Potters Society based on Onehunga for more than 25 years. He has had a lifetime association with the Māngere Harbour foreshore.  A local resident, a fan of Lange's brick artworks, gifted this 'artwork seat' for this specific site.

Brick Wave

Positioned at rest areas along the Waikowhai Coastal Walkway, the panels of this artwork are integrated into the handrails. Each patterned panel is made of stainless steel and red fibreglass. The three tukutuku (ornamental lattice-work) patterns signify the abundance, health and guardianship of the Manukau as a traditional food basket for mana whenua (tribe with historic and territorial rights over land).



Intended to be a continuous trail from Onehunga foreshore around the northern shoreline of Manukau Harbour, this boardwalk section of the Waikowhai Coastal Walkway links Taumanu Reserve in Onehunga to Bamfield Reserve in Hillsborough. The Onehunga foreshore was once known as Te Puhaetanga o Te Ata (the blowing back of Te Ata), referencing the strong wind and water currents coming off the Manukau Harbour and up through the estuary.



Sitting between Māngere and Maungakiekie maunga (mountain), the Manukau Harbour connects the southwest to the northwest region: *Ka hi te Manuka* describes this landscape, capturing the two maunga and the harbour. The geometric designs utilise tapatoru tāniko (triangle shaped finger-weaving) patterns, incorporating aramoana (zigzag lines) which depict the sea and currents that connect the south and northwestern regions. The harakeke (flax) pattern reflects the fishing industry and the history of food gathering in the region, while the waharua (small double diamond shapes) represents the two entrances into the Manukau Harbour.

Ka hi te Manuka

The Māori legend of Māui is represented in these sculptures, which stand in front of the Onehunga Community Centre and Library complex. According to the creation story, Māui hauled up Te Ika-a-Māui, known today as the North Island of New Zealand, from the sea with a matau (fish hook). The matau was made from the jawbone of a whale and the all-white colour of this sculpture represents the whale's sun-bleached bone. The two stylised fish hooks and anchor stone that make up Jim Palmer's work are made of ferrocement and supported on a steel base.

*Matau* can be viewed from different sides to appreciate the changing shapes and shadows found between the pieces. The shadows cast by the sun and changing light throughout the day highlight different areas of contrast across this large sculpture.

*Matau* is the result of a competition held in 1972 to design a sculpture for Onehunga. The competition was supported by Alex Harvey Industries on the occasion of W.H. Bond & Co's golden jubilee. The work was originally located in a reflection pool in Queen Street Mall, Onehunga, then moved to the former Borough Council Chambers and library before being relocated to its current site in 2003.

Matau

Hautaha means coming together, and in this three-metre tall sculpture, artist Sopolemalama Filipe Tohi weaves together history, philosophy and culture – humanity coming together is at its core. Layered both physically and metaphorically, this stacked steel-tube sculpture is based on lalava, the traditional Tongan art of joining and binding. Recognised as a master craftsman in this artform, Tohi defines lalava as the intersection of two lines, always with a male and female line, which become a metaphor for the ways of the world. *Hautaha*’s form is female and welcomes and embraces residents and visitors to the Onehunga community.

Lalava is also used in making houses and boats, both of which bring people together. The binding patterns used in this sculpture are symbolic of human interaction, which stretch from the past right up into the present; from early Māori and colonising Europeans through to Pacific Islanders migrating to the region.

*Hautaha* was unveiled in 2004 and was one of a series of artworks incorporated into the new Onehunga Library and Community Centre complex. During the project, Tohi worked with local Tongan youth, leading workshops in traditional lalava.



"It's about binding people together too – all the cultures in Onehunga," says Tohi.

Peter Lange

Brick Wave

"A sculptural seat for pause and ponder on the Onehunga foreshore."

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