17 Sep 2024
Eastwoodhill Arboretum is just a few minutes’ drive from Tawera Tahuri’s home in Tairawhiti / Gisborne so she would often go past.
“I’d wonder what was up that big driveway. There’s not much signage so I assumed it was the name of someone’s property and someone rich lived there. But it’s actually a park and I thought ‘this is amazing, more Māori should see it!’”
Tawera is a teacher, artist and connector who works as the Lead Adviser, International Indigenous Exchange for Creative New Zealand. On a personal level, she wanted to learn more about the arboretum and create a stronger connection to the place among her whānau, and on a professional level she saw an opportunity to connect different groups with the help of art and culture.
Arboretum means a botanical collection of trees. Eastwoodhill Arboretum was established in 1910 and has over 25,000 species of trees, shrubs and climbers from Aotearoa and around the world.
Tawera went to see representatives of mana whenua Te Whānau-a-Kai and asked about their relationship with Eastwoodhill. Then she spoke with the manager of Eastwoodhill and some of the Trust members to ask about their relationships with the local iwi.
“They did karakia every now and then, but it wasn’t as meaningful as it could be. There were a couple of sculptural pieces up there, but nothing that related to Māori,” Tawera says.
But she knew Te Whānau-a-Kai had a strong group of carvers in its ranks.
Eastwoodhill had plenty of wood available, both because of the fast-growing northern hemisphere species on the property and the destruction that was wrought by Cyclone Gabrielle early in 2023. Those trees were typically turned into firewood.
Tawera saw the possibility for carving to become the connection between two worlds.
A powhiri was held, the local iwi was welcomed back, and the Houpapa Indigenous Sculpture Symposium was planned. Everything came together so the event could be held at Matariki, a time for new beginnings.
The event brought together Te Whānau-a-Kai, Eastwoodhill, the Tairawhiti Arts Festival, which is supported by the Gisborne District Council and the Regional Tourism Organisation, and the contemporary Māori Arts School Toihoukura in Gisborne.”
Anthea Dalton, a horticulturalist and operations team leader at Eastwoodhill, says typical arboretum visitors could be summarised as older people with gardens who are looking for botanical information.
“But the symposium changed that. We had all sorts coming here and there were so many locals.
They didn’t know what Eastwoodhill was, let alone that you could come up here and we’d have cool stuff going on. Gisborne’s mayor Rehette Stoltz and a number of Gisborne councillors visited. Our car parks were chock-a-block, there was a big marquee up on the top lawn and people came to watch the artists work on their pieces. One of the artists also gave some lessons on how to make a patu. It was such a good vibe,” Anthea says.
Anthea says the symposium was “a science experiment as well as a creative experiment” because the nine local carvers who traditionally used native timber had the chance to experiment with so-called exotics like oak, redwood and Douglas fir.
Local carvers are used to working with tōtara and kauri and were reluctant to use exotics, Tawera says. But an international carving expert from Oregon who travelled to Tairawhiti on a cultural exchange for the event helped create a new understanding.
“It was a beautiful conversation, and it shifted the whole gathering and the preference for only New Zealand natives. He said, ‘I hear you people referring to these trees as exotic, but these are indigenous to me, and the others are indigenous to somebody,’” Tawera says.
Pragmatism also comes into play. Native timbers are becoming harder to source and much more expensive, whereas non-native species flourish here.
Anthea talked with one of her relatives, artist Sir Derek Lardelli, and he told her about the forest that was planted around 100 years ago specifically for the restoration of the Notre Dame cathedral.
“When you look at marae maintenance with all these beautiful carvings that may need to be replaced, none of that tōtara and kauri has been planted. That made people look at some of the other options,” Anthea says.
The whole experience was profound and has led to a range of positives for the arboretum. The iwi was absent from the space, but the symposium changed that. There are now sculptures from the event in the courtyard, a beautiful piece hanging in the library that welcomes guests, and a pou carved out of oak. It is hoped there will eventually be a series of pou running from Eastwoodhill to Gisborne.
Anthea loves the waka kererū hanging in the courtyard and a piece by Nick Tupara (who is also a local councillor) made from a rotten piece of black poplar. It was a woman’s figure with the korowai made from parts of the pinecone and she says, “his vision and the process he went through was really admirable.”
Max Matenga says the symposium was groundbreaking for mana whenua as well.
He’s an experienced composer, songwriter and kapa haka tutor and performer from Te Whānau-a-Kai. Like Tawera, he used to wonder what that big driveway led to. He found beautiful history there but not much that was local.
“The community was open to the idea of drawing on the knowledge of mana whenua. It was lovely to go in there and share our traditional narratives and provide a te ao Māori view,” Max says.
The symposium is named for Houpapa, the place where ancestor Hinepuakirangi was said to live. She was also the first recipient of moko kauae within Te Whānau-a-Kai.
“That’s huge, to be able to bring the spirits of our ancestors into present times,” Max says.
As a direct result of the connections forged in the symposium, Max is now developing a cultural tour to augment the existing botanical tours at Eastwoodhill. He’s excited to be able to share more of the iwi’s history and culture and believes this will have a lasting impact on manuhiri (visitors).
Max is now part of the Eastwoodhill Trust board, a position created by Gisborne District Council.
“They wanted a member to advocate for mana whenua and ensure our traditional tikanga Māori is adhered to. This has all come off the back of the symposium, and we hope it continues.”
The Eastwoodhill Trust is looking at commissioning a fully carved waharoa or gateway for the entry and Max says local carvers are likely to be called on to create it.
One of Tawera Tahuri’s goals as a connector is to create opportunities for further engagement. “Everyone wanted to help and participate, and I feel like we just scratched the surface,” Tawera says.
The plan is to hold the symposium every two years and there are hopes it could become a drawcard for the region and attract more international carvers. As there is accommodation available on site, there have also been discussions about creating an international carving residency to continue that sharing of knowledge or whanaungatanga, which Tawera says is the most important thing at indigenous events.
“We’ve been trying to make sure that if we do have nice timber, we put it somewhere safe and let it cure so it’s ready for the next one,” says Anthea Dalton.
Anthea says Eastwoodhill is like “a living seed bank for the rest of the world”. The Houpapa Indigenous Sculpture Symposium has planted a seed.
This series brings to life the benefits of local arts and culture investment.
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