Paeroa

Manifesting the narratives and mana of Taupaki’s whakapapa, concrete forms of the Kaimai and Coromandel-Moehau mountain ranges are erected in the gallery, carved with Hauraki Māori narratives, connecting bodies of water, figures, and native plants. Named for the sanctuary where Taupaki’s ancestors settled after being displaced by tribal warfare and colonisation, Paeroa manifests a renowned Hauraki pepeha:

Taku Tūrangawaewae taku ohooho,
Taku ohooho taku oranga,
E tū ana au i runga i te rae ō aku tupuna,
Tirotiro kau ana ki Tikapa Moana.
Tērā te Tohora e karawhiu ana i ngā tai ō te whakarewa Kauri,
Rū ana taku Kūpenga i te rohe whaanui ō Hauraki.
Mai i ā Mahurangi te punga hei whakamau,
Ngā Kuri ā Whārei te hiku e kowheta ana,
Ngā pā tāwhito hei poitō ō te Kūpenga nui ō aku tupuna,
E kanapanapa ana i runga i te whenua ō Hauraki e!
Tērā ngā pā Kainga ngā pātiki Kura
Whatoro ki roto ki te oneone o ngā awa ngā maunga e!
Matao ana i te korowai ō Papatūānuku,
I hunaia i te repō i tukuna i te pō,
Tērā a Tikarahi te korowai e.
Taku mana, taku ihi, taku oranga e!
Taku oranga, taku ngākau, aku Iwi e!