Sculpture on the Gulf
- 31 January 2022
SCULPTURE ON THE GULF
4 – 27 March 2022
Featuring a major installation by Anton Forde.
Anton will have work available for purchase from Gabriella Lewenz Gallery, courtesy of Whitespace.
For further information and tickets to Sculpture on the Gulf please visit HERE.
Waiheke Island Artist and sculptor Anton Forde announces his newest work Te Kotahitanga o Whakamaru / The Unity of Protection. This work has been eleven years in the making since conception and is to be revealed on Waiheke Island’s Matiatia peninsula on 3 March 2022 to welcome all to Perpetual Guardian Sculpture on the Gulf 2022.
The artist hopes the large kao kao sculpture on the side of Matiatia could create a symbolic offering of kotahitanga - unity - and whakamaru - protection - for Waiheke Island, the Hauraki Gulf and Tangaroa’s moana.
The 20m2 installation features 55 individual pou / contemporary sculptures of 2.7m tall larger-than-life male and female figures installed 2m apart in a kao kao raranga / weaving pattern that is clearly visible to all visitors to Waiheke as they come and go on the ferry. The kao kao V formation is a powerful symbol of protection as well as a haka formation. It was also used by William Wallace and the clans to defend Scotland.
The work will be installed on sloping land at Matiatia to ensure the kao kao is clearly visible when people come and go on the ferry. As the viewer gets closer or experiences the Sculpture on the Gulf walk, it will be revealed that each piece of wood is a carved pou / contemporary sculpture, spaced 2 meters apart (as per Covid pandemic social distancing protocols) so people can “weave” and walk through the installation. As people walk through the work, from afar the sculpture will appear to move.
Anton Forde says “with this work, my hope is to bring awareness to climate change and how we all have a role to play - to unify to protect Te Ao / our world for future generations.” David Attenborough, in his opening speech at COP26 said “If working apart we are a force powerful enough to destabilise our planet, surely working together we are powerful enough to save it.” Attenborough also noted that “those who've done the least to cause this problem are being the hardest hit.” Forde sees this in the everyday lives of Kiwi children, “With 2021 the hottest year since records began, the reality now is that our children are suffering because of climate change. On a daily basis our kids are getting burnt by the sun, stung by sea lice and jellyfish infestations, and having to provide water to plants and birds so they survive. I hope this work connects us to our whenua / land in a way that makes us want to do more to protect it.”
LATEST NEWS
RNZ: New Anton Forde Sculpture opens on Waiheke Island
From Afternoons with Jesse Mulligan. Listen HERE.
stuff: The carved installation in Waiheke that's a climate crisis call to arms
By Nadine Rubin Nathan. Read HERE.
Te Karere: Kua whakatūria ngā pou Māori kei Waiheke
Watch HERE.
View more of Anton's work HERE.