A bold and colourful mural on a previously bare concrete wall of the Kāpiti Coast Museum links the past and present of Waikanae.
Called “He rau ringa e oti ai: Many hands make light work’’ – the mural is the work of Te Ātiawa artist Vianney Parata who has dedicated the work to her ancestors Wi Te Kākākura Parata and Unaiki Pukehi buried in the nearby Parata family cemetery Ruakōhatu.
Parata says the symbolic designs throughout the work refer to the flax processing, timber felling and whaling industries which many Waikanae people contributed to in earlier times.
The leaf like manu (bird) design references the original 1907 Waikanae Post Office which now houses the Museum. This stood as “the heartbeat of the town of Waikanae for so long” with abundant native birdlife on its doorstep.
The bold red outlines refer to the awa (rivers) that become oceans and oceans that become awa. At the top, the pair of three notches make up two niho taniwha patterns that reference a Te Ātiawa taniwha, Te Kopaeara, who dwells in the Waikanae River and travels from Kapakapanui to Kāpiti Island guarding the sacred waters.
The Kāpiti Coast District Council provided financial and administrative support to the Museum in line with its Public Art Policy and enabled the painting of the mural. Their support is gratefully acknowledged by the Kāpiti Coast Museum.
Read the article Te Ātiawa artist Vianney Parata dedicates special mural on Kāpiti Coast Museum wall to her ancestors, Kapiti News, 26 Jul, 2024