Memorial Park Bridge Panels

Memorial Park Bridge Panels

Waipā Public Art

Outdoor
Unknown Artist Karapiro

Memorial Park Bridge Panels

Korotangi Paki

Artwork details

 

Date 2025
Mediums Corten Steel
Physical description Five decorative panels located on bridges over the Mangaohoi and Mangapiko streams and highlighting the cultural significance of Kaipaka Pā.

Description

Five decorative panels located on bridges in Te Awamutu. Each panel tells a unique story and together they highlight the merging of the Mangaohoi and Mangapiko streams and the cultural significance of Kaipaka Pā. These panels were created in partnership with mana whenua. Korotangi Paki, brother of Kuini Nga wai hono i te po, designed the panels with input from a cultural advisory group that included Ngāti Apakura representatives.

Bridge 1: Mangapiko Bridge

The significance of Kaipaka Pā, the Mangapiko beneath the bridge, connection with Mangaohoi and the gateway to Te Awamutu via SH3 are the overarching features underpinning the design for the Mangapiko Bridge panel. The design includes Niho Taniwha (triangles) that depict the Mangapiko Stream.

Bridge 2: Shanel Bridge

The confluence of the Mangaohoi and Mangapiko was central to the Shanel Bridge panel design. The significance of the Mangaohoi as it originates at Maungatautari; a connection to the Parāwera wharenui and Raukawa urupā are also acknowledged. Paki has used the Puuhoro design with small Niho patterns or Piko patterns. Puuhoro is a representation of the water flow.

Bridge 3: Army Bridge
This bridge depicts a beginning, an acknowledgement to move forward. The central raranga (weaving) is representative of the binding of two worlds and the bringing together of different views. The triangle patterns within symbolise whetū and the guiding light woven into that fabric.

Bridge 4: Air Force bridge
Kai is highlighted in the design of the Air Force Bridge panel. The Mangaohoi stream was a rich source of watercress and tuna. Puhoro and flowing patterns represent water, rivers speed, and agility. Mangatuna are used to represent the multiple tuna and koura and the strong mana whenua association with kai.

Bridge 5: Navy Bridge
Harakeke is an important part of pā life; pā rongoā, as a resource (weaving) and a metaphor (children/whānau/family). The restoration of the puna, in part by the planting of harakeke is an important theme as it symbolises the life force that sustained the tribe. The four centre points of this design represents the whānau unit of the harakeke (flax) plant: children, parents, and tūpuna.

 

 

Location

Memorial Park, Te Awamutu

 

Skatepark Murals

Skatepark Murals

Waipā Public Art

Outdoor
Unknown Artist Karapiro

Skatepark Murals

Te Aukaha Puke and Te Wairere Ngaia

Artwork details

 

Date 2024
Mediums Paint on concrete
Physical description Mixture of traditional patterns with a contemporary colour palette.

Description

Eight graphic murals, with designs focused on the Ōtāwhao settlement which was once located on the skate park site. The designs include interpretations of tools used for kūmara cultivation, ahikā (fire pits), parinuiterā kūmara rows, pekapeka, pā tuna, Mangapiko/ Manga Ohoi streams and Ngā Maunga – Kakepuku and Pirongia.

 

 

Location

Centennial Park, Te Awamutu

 

Atrocities of Rangiaowhia

Atrocities of Rangiaowhia

Waipā Public Art

Indoor
Angus Brent Summer Day, Devonshire

The Atrocities of Rangiaowhia

Richard Lewer

Artwork details

 

Date 2023
Mediums Acrylic paint on canvas
Physical description A painting based on the emotional journey of the artist through one of the Waipā’s most contentious times of the ‘Land Wars’ in the Waikato.

Description

The artwork depicts the sacking of Rangiaowhia 1864. A food producing village known as the economic hub of the Waikato, Rangiaowhia was the largest settlement of Māori at that time. However, due to the encroaching British forces into the Waikato, the village had sent all its warriors to defend Paterangi Pā leaving behind only women, children, elderly and the disabled.

Hamilton-born artist Richard Lewer works and lives in Melbourne, Australia. Working across a range of medium, his art explores the intimate, though at times uncomfortable, terrain of his own personal history. This painting was gifted to Council.

 

 

 

St John’s Church NZ Wars Mem

St John’s Church NZ Wars Mem

St John's Church NZ Wars Memorial

Te Awamutu
Angus Brent Summer Day, Devonshire

St John's Church NZ Wars Memorial

1888

Details

Location Te Awamutu – 162 Arawata Street
Commemorating NZ Land Wars
Mediums Stone
Listing HNZ Cat 1, Waipā District Plan Cat A (St John’s Church)
Links NZ History, HNZ Listing, Ministry of Culture and Heritage Manatū Taonga, Te Awamutu Museum Collections Online

Description

This Imperial and Colonial Forces Memorial adjacent to the Old St John’s Church was erected in 1888 by the government to honour imperial and colonial troops, as well as kūpapa Māori who fought alongside government forces during the Waikato War including battles such as Rangiaowhia, Hairini, and Ōrākau in 1863–65. It is made of sandstone with a marble inscription panel and cross on a three-tiered base in the church cemetery.

Many of the men memorialized remain unnamed, and their remains are believed to be buried nearby. The site is of significant historical importance, as it reflects the complex legacy of the New Zealand Wars within the Waipā and the nuanced relationships between Māori and colonial forces.

Rangiaowhia Memorial

Rangiaowhia Memorial

Rangiaowhia Memorial

Rangiaowhia
Angus Brent Summer Day, Devonshire

Thomas Power & Rahapa Te Hauata Power Memorial

2021

Details

Location Rangiaowhia – Rangiaowhia Catholic Mission and Cemetery, Rangiaowhia Road
Commemorating NZ Land Wars
Mediums Stone
Listing  
Links NZ History, Te Awamutu Museum – Rahapa

Description

In 1847, at the age of twenty-two, Rahapa married Irish-born farmer Thomas Power. Known for his agricultural skills, Governor Grey requested the couple work together to introduce local Māori to European farming practices. During the British invasion of the Waikato in 1864 Rangiaowhia was besieged. Rahapa and Thomas’ house was not attacked but afterwards, while Power was in Auckland with three of their five children, it was looted by soldiers.

What is significant about this union is that it formed one of the first Māori-European families in the Waipā district. Descendants of Rahapa and Thomas are still alive, some of which reside in the Waipā district today.

The inscription reads:

The Plaque Has Been Laid By The Descendants of THOMAS POWER (1808 – 1897) His Wife RAHAPA TE HAUATA (1825 – 1865) In April of this Year 2001 ‘Softly Blows the Wind’ ‘E pa to hau he wini raro’