Six light ‘pou' installed along Oriental Parade accompany the Trustpower Projection on Carter fountain, relating the story of Wellington’s mythical taniwha - Ngake & Whātaitai. The designs of the Pou express connections of people, the land, and the spiritual world. Text by Ben Ngaia.
Designed by Storybox in collaboration with Māori visual artist Desna Whaanga-Schollum, Pou Rama features six free-standing light structures which you can walk around. Each post cycles slowly through a series of undulating colour changes. The three different pairs of designs are inspired by pouwhenua (traditional Māori land symbols of support), and represent creative timeless wairua (inspiration) which is generated from te taiao (the environment). The whakairo (wooden carving) designs express cycles of creativity and connections to place. This work resonates with multicultural and global themes through the eternal Maori contextual narrative connecting humans, the land and the spiritual world.