This cluster of five bronze sculptures of waka (canoes) is named *Tauranga Waka* (the resting place of canoes) because of its location on  Beach Road in Auckland Central. The waka mark where the original shoreline was before 1860, which is 200 metres inland from today's shoreline. The earth was reclaimed and taken from Tangihanga Pūkaea, where Te Reuroa Pā once stood, between 1860 and 1880.

Chris Bailey's waka seem to emerge from the footpath, as though they have been pulled up onto the beach. The waka prows are not carved in as much detail as waka taua (war canoes) – this simpler style of carving is used on waka for fishing, collecting kaimoana (seafood) and transporting produce.

Tauranga Waka

Carved basalt sculptures, paving stones with small stainless steel pipi shells and 24 pop-jet fountains decorate the south-eastern corner of Takutai Square in Britomart, celebrating the past life of this location. This site was where the harbour and foreshore once was, an area that was also a rich food source for Māori before colonisation. The area's once-abundant sea life was harvested by the surrounding papakāinga (villages), such as Te Rerenga Oraiti Pā. A fortified headland, Te Rerenga Oraiti Pā stood guard at the eastern end of the Britomart complex, but was levelled and used for land reclamation.

The 16 boulders, which were carved in collaboration with Ngāti Whātua artists, are inscribed with motifs and placed in a loose grid formation. The water of the pop-jet fountains mimics the squirting shellfish that were once common in the former pipi bed, called Te Rou Kai. The stainless steel pipi are life-sized and embedded in the concrete that people walk on every day. *Te Rou Kai / Pipi Beds* was partially funded by the former Auckland Regional Council.

Te Rou Kai / Pipi Beds

Mahuhu ki te Rangi is the name of a significant tupuna waka (ancestral voyaging vessel) of Ngāti Whātua. Great ocean-going canoes were used in the Māori migrations from the Pacific that settled Aotearoa / New Zealand.

Landscape architect Ted Smyth first began to use design elements derived from Māori decorative arts in 1995 when he began work on Mahuhu ki te Rangi Reserve. The reserve has an abstract koru (spiral) embedded into the paving and etched into the edges of the water sculpture. The large central water sculpture is fed by three finger-like troughs. Suspended stainless-steel nets symbolically cast wide the mana of Ngāti Whātua, reflecting the unique status of the iwi and the land where the development sits.

The Casting of the Nets

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.

Chris Bailey

Tauranga Waka

"These carved bronze waka emerge from the footpath, marking the original shoreline of the area."

Artwork details

Production date

Medium

Dimensions

Credit line

Description

Location

Artworks near this one