December 18, 2015
Museum house restored from paepae
East Coast iwi Rongowhakaata intends to use its time on the paepae at Te Papa Tongarewa to restore the country’s most visited meeting house.
Te Hau ki Turanga was taken from the iwi by the crown in 1867.
Willie Te Aho says it will be the centrepiece of the Rongowhakaata exhibition which opens in the national museum in July 2017, and the iwi wants to replace bits that went missing and undo some of the alterations made by the old Dominion Museum.
He says it should be a treat for visitors.
"So the carvings, the tukutuku, the kowhaiwhai, they will be able to see our people from Rongowhakaata working on that restoration so it will be similar to what New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts do in having people come along and see art in action," he says.
Rongowhakaata is also discussing what needs to be done to bring the house back to Manutuke, but the iwi is insistent the crown is liable for any installation and ongoing maintenance costs.
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