Blog 11 The Mangere Arts Centre – Nga Tohu o Uenuku
What is your impression of the arts centre as you approach the entrance? Does the design reflect a particular culture or community? Provide specific examples.
My first impression of The Mangere Arts Centre was a large ship, a sailing ship on the sea to be specific, as I approached the entrance. Blue bubbles of exterior bottom symbolises the ocean and rainbow colors at the top symbolises the sky. The make and shape of the entrance made it look like the ship's keel.
The designer Mr Street says it is important for the building to represent and celebrate the region's 'Pacific-ness'. (Mangere centre pays tribute to Lange, 2007)
When it came selecting the colour scheme for the exterior of the Arts Centre, Creative Spaces looked to local Maori and Pacific Island mythology, legends and beliefs to inform their colour choices. Uenuku is known to the local Maori as the God of creativity, and his physical manifestation is the Rainbow. From this stemmed the colour palette for the exterior of the Arts Centre, which is expressed in the batons on the exterior entry facade. Te Puna is a traditional Maori and Pacific term that applies to a puna wai or a spring of naturally flowing water from the depths of papatuanuku – mother earth. Te Puna can also be applied to a source from which artistic skills and all things scholarly flow. This was expressed in a series of precast concrete panels with bubbles, which represents the water rising from the spring, and accented in two subtle shades of blue, which provide depth. (Dulux,2011)
Find out the following information:
Designer/Architects: Design Director is Harry Street.
Date Opened: The center opened on September 3, 2010.
Who do you think this particular space is intended for?
The venue is a hub for artists, performers, colleagues and Mangere community members. As a meeting, exhibition and performance space for the local community, Mangere Arts Centre provides a variety of areas for people to meet, learn, share, display and perform in.
The arts center is for people of all backgrounds and ages and features visual arts, crafts, heritage arts and multimedia to performing arts, theatre, dance, music and comedy. The centre has a particular focus on Maori and Pacific visual arts and performing arts – with the vision of developing a profile of national and international significance.
What is the intended use of this building?
One of the aims of the centre is to showcase artists in the community by providing a professional, high quality venue with knowledgeable and skilled staff that are passionate about Mangere.
The attraction types of this building are Art Gallery, Theatre, and Local government, Information & Services and working in a range of disciplines including photography, installation art, moving image and more. The centre has a particular focus on Maori and Pacific visual arts and performing arts - with the vision of developing a profile of national and international significance.
The Exhibition (50 words)
What is the whakatauaki associated with this exhibition?
Kia tupu, kia hua, kia puawai
What is the English translation?
To grow, to prosper, to sustain.
Who is Te Puea Herangi, and why would Tainui have been involved in providing this particular taonga?
Te Puea Herangi was a respected Māori leader region known by the name Princess Te Puea. She has been involved in providing this taonga, because she cared about everyone in this community and she wanted to see a growing prosperous and sustainable community.
Choose 1 work to discuss in the following response. (200 words max)
Title: The white book
Artist/Designers: Kvetoslava Sekanova
Date: 2011
How do you see the above whakatauaki discussed above embedded in this particular object?
Kvetoslava Sekanova’s piece, The White Book, a brooch created from newsprint, silver, paint and mixed media. The materials used represent sustainability of the knowledge that was passed onto us from our ancestors. The shape of the work implies the growing and expanding of the knowledge and it is knowledge to help us prosper. The white book displayed a consummate understanding of materials dovetailed with considered exploration and communication of ideas.
Works cited list:
Mangere centre pays tribute to Lange, (2007).
Dulux. “Dulux Colour Awards Finalist: Mangere Arts Centre Project”. Published June 27, 2011
Image:
http://static2.stuff.co.nz/1301953631/523/4848523.jpg
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