Find organisations, clubs, courses and moreUpper Riccarton 150 tukutuku panel
This panel was designed, created and constructed by the staff and community of the Upper Riccarton Library as part of the Tukutuku Project in 2009 to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of Christchurch City Libraries
He tino pakari ngā aka o ngā rākau teitei Tall trees have strong roots
- raffia, ceramics, string, stones, collage, wwoven and embroidered additions.
- 122 x 60 cm
The panel design is split down a central axis and indicates night on the left side and day on the right. The dominant pattern is of a stylised cabbage tree with weaving in raffia coming up in a staircase Poutama pattern from the bottom corners to join at the top of the tree trunk near the top of panel.
The tree and staircase represent vertical movement towards knowledge and fulfilment. This imagery was chosen to indicate the acquisition of knowledge and resulting steps towards growth and fulfilment that the library brings to both the students of Riccarton High School and Upper Riccarton customers in general. This is also reflected in the left to right, dark to light, night to day aspects of the colours on the horizontal plane of the panel.
Looking from the base to the top – on the lower part of the panel ferns and low scrub represent local flora and also the aspect of support provided by the library to those who frequent it.The long leaves at the top of tree represent arms that welcome those on the journey upwards and provide places to support and protect our treasures (taonga), being our mātauranga, people and place.
The circular piece at the top of the trunk is a pattern known as Koiri and conveys bending and swaying- suitable for the tree theme but it also evokes the values of flexibility and tolerance promoted by the school and the Christchurch City Council. Being circular it is also used as a moon/sun symbol within the sky area of the painting and as a symbol of completion suitable as the conclusion of the story of the work.
In a central position at the bottom of the panel is a ceramic stylised ear . It is a visual reference to the Māori name of this library - Te Kete Wānanga o Pūtaringamotu - place of an echo. Māori believed that at a certain place in the forest, those trained and skilled in the practice could hear the sound of people approaching on the trails through the surrounding swamp by putting an ear to the ground.
Below this strings hang from the trunk so that they go beyond the work as the community goes beyond the library. They indicate the roots of the tree and the foundation from which the knowledge journey begins. Small white stones on which words that describe the core values and the name of the panel are tied onto the strings.
To add a three-dimensional aspect to the panel several items have been created;
- Two woven collages of words and photos. The upper collage shows faces of some of the children and students that come to the library. The lower collage shows the faces of library staff at Upper Riccarton library. They are below as they help to support the children on their journey to knowledge. They are attached to the trunk of the tree to add strength.
- Plants, insects, and birds that relate to the Riccarton Bush area are attached to the tree, fernery and sky in relief. Some of these are indigenous and some introduced representing the melding of traditional and introduced elements in Aotearoa New Zealand. These have been made by staff and customers. Some have been created with yet another form of weaving/embroidery.
- There is a white and gold butterfly that is dedicated to the memory of a much loved library colleague, Irene Prue, who passed away in 2006. Irene was the first associate community librarian at Upper Riccarton Library.
- Four embroidered stars, representing the Southern Cross, emphasise the night aspect of the left hand side of the panel.
- A three-dimensional outline of St Peter's Church, woven from images of its stained glass windows sits at the bottom right to indicate the spiritual and social origins of Pākeha life in the area. The church was consecrated in 1858, the year before the first library was established in Canterbury.
