My culture is decoration for the City. My culture is only an easter egg hunt in the Western World I call Auckland City. I am not represented, not enough.
I wanted to build my own City, I wanted the Maori/Polynesian influence on our blank walls in our tall powerful buidings. Using only history, myth and knowledge from before colonisation because its not taught, my history is not valued in the western eyes,lets change that.
Using art works that relate to our knowledge and history I chose the Polynesian Navigation system (bottom right), one of the most genius understandings of our seas using the stars, wind and the ocean the Polynesian people were able to sail from Antartica to South America, I wanted to honor that. I searched for talented Maori/ Polynesian artists I chose works from @Emanuele_tolotti_tribal_works (pattern, bottom left) and @bestmaori (stingray, left) their stunning creative work inspired me and taught me alot about pattern work. Te Ika o Maui (center) I wanted to incorperate our Maori myths, I love this because it’s pulling up the North Island /City sort of revitalising our Maori culture. The Enterance, a welcoming for everyone to my City, and the phrase “when will my culture be represented in my City” a protest peice, for the audience to think, is there a problem in representation of its indiginous people? A whakatuki “Ko nga pae tawhiti whaia kia tata, ko nga pae tata, whakamaua kia tina” “the potential for tomorrow depends on what we do today” I didnt put the translation up simply because we have information on our phones, but the right people will be curious enough to actually try and learn.
I would change a few things. If I had time I would add more, ideas like the stop and start signs in Wellington (Haka for stop and Karanga for go) a sort of modernised approach to City concepts is interesting to me, more reaserch into other Maori artists and know how to edit their original artworks and print ontop of the buildings and definitely reaserch into Maori architecture, and how I could not only incorperate our art, history and myths on walls but also our cultural influence on buildings, our carvings, etc, because we shouldn’t only be on the City walls.