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Te Taitokerau MP Kelvin Davis says Whangarei’s Hundertwasser Art Centre still has some work to do to engage with Maori in the north.
A member of the group managing the project, Ngati Wai artist Benjamin Pittman, has bemoaned a lack of Maori financial support for the converting the former Northland Harbour Board building into galleries,
As well as housing work by long time Northland resident Friedensreich Hundertwasser, the centre includes the Wairau Maoru Art Gallery showcasing Maori contemporary art.
Mr Davis says even that seems to put the Austrian artist on a pedestal.
"Wairau has actually no connection to the north other than it means 100 waters, which is what 'hundertwasser' means in German as well. It's a bit of a strange link there. I would have liked something more overtly celebrating Te Parawhau and the Maori element from round the Whangarei area," he says.
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