October 12, 2018
Ngāi Tahu hand in city library
Ngāi Tahu’s Ngāi Tuahuriri hapū is celebrating Christchurch’s new library as an example of what can happen when iwi play a central role in design.
The Tūranga library complex which opened this morning was named after the East Coast home of Ngāi Tahu ancestor Paikea.
That story is depicted on the library’s west wall in the artwork Tūhara created by Riki Manuel and Morgan Mathews-Hale.
Other works by Ngāi Tahu artists are throughout the building, and there is bilingual signage.
Lynne Te Aika from Ngāi Tuahuriri’s Matapopore Charitable Trust says it shows how indigenous culture, values and language can – and should – be part of city design.
Copyright © 2018, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com