With your help Chris Booth and local community will build a 10m sculpture that will move to show what we are doing to combat climate change
Nationwide
Te Haa o Te Ao (The Breath of the World) is a proposed entranceway sculpture into Kerikeri, Waipapa and surrounding Bay of Islands. Te Runanga o Ngati Rehia, the Maori people of this area, have invited locally based international sculptor, Chris Booth, to design it. The aim of the sculpture is to raise awareness in locals and visitors about the greatest threat humanity is facing today: climate change.
Te Haa o Te Ao will be 10m tall with 55 locally sourced boulders simulating Poi. In traditional times the Poi was a stone attached to a cord and used as a weapon, today it is used in a dance performed with balls attached to flax strings and swung rhythmically. These Poi are suspended from a central Pou by stainless steel cables. The cables will reflect the light of the sun and make music with the wind.
The Pou will be topped by a sculpture by Tuauahiroa Hei Hei made of cast metal in the form of the heads of three native birds, the kahu (hawk) facing southwards towards oncoming traffic, the tui facing west into the bush and the kawau (shag) facing seawards.
With a winch, representative children from local schools, following their monitoring of the health of our district and efforts made to combat climate change, will shift the collar over the wires causing the Poi (boulders) to rise "like a bird's wing" or down, hanging easy. The sculpture being under high tension means that we are in a state of conflict with the environment, or if at ease, we are doing enough.
This is not a scientific instrument - it is a work of art. It is just like music - by playing certain notes, one can vary the mood from peaceful to high tension. So by moving the Poi the viewer's visual response changes from peaceful to high tension. It therefore reflects the efforts we are making in combating climate change.
The sculpture will be
a meaningful and powerful greeting to everyone passing through this gateway
an artistic, responsive warning signal to humanity about the state of the environment vis-à-vis climate change
an opportunity for a local school's social and scientific involvement to monitor the well-being of the local environment
a challenge to tackle human effects on the climate and environment and people’s engagement with it
a collaborative project by Maori and Pakeha, young and old, individuals and businesses
an environmentally inspired thought provoking icon to be visited, contemplated and talked about.
Te Runanga o Ngati Rehia, Transit NZ, FNDC, Oxford Trust, Rotary and Lions (Waipapa and Kerikeri), Probus, Vision Kerikeri, Aroha Island Charitable Trust, Living Waters, Kerikeri High School environmental group and numerous individuals have expressed their support for the project.
Te Runanga o Ngati Rehia and the artists would be profoundly grateful if you could give a little to Te Haa o te Ao. Every little bit counts.
Also, if you wish to give more, there are 55 half tonne boulders for sale which are incorporated in the sculpture. They are NZ$1000 each. For each boulder bought you will receive a personal thank you from the artists Chris Booth and Tuauahiroa Hei Hei. It will be in the form of a stone core from the purchased boulder signed by both artists.
Te Haa o Te Ao - Sculpture - Fundraising Appeal 30 October 2014
Fundraising appeal for Te Haa o Te Ao sculpture by Chris Booth (Kerikeri)
Your message will be displayed on the page and emailed to the donor.
Your new message will also be emailed to the donor.
Saving a blank entry will delete the current comment.