Rachael Rakena and Simon Kaan are the artists behind one of Ōtautahi’s most prominent new pieces of art, Te Aika, a huge sculpture which welcomes visitors into Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre. Cityscape quizzes the pair on the responsibility of public art and the return of native herons.

We hear this is your first public sculpture, is that right?
Simon: It’s the first one we’ve done together. Rachael has done a public project or two beforehand.
Rachael: I did a work during the Rugby World Cup in 2011. I put 3D video in an installation in the Octagon [in Dunedin] and it was called Haka Peepshow. I’ve collaborated with Brett Graham a couple of times – he’s a sculptor – and my sister who is a ceramicist.

Your experience is mostly in video art, Rachael?
R: In all these other projects, my contribution has always been video.

And you’re generally a painter, Simon?
S: I work predominantly in 2D mediums, and I have an experimental food project that I run, it’s a community initiative.

What did these different artistic backgrounds contribute to this sculpture design?
R: That’s a hard question! You apply the different materials or the medium that seems appropriate. And Simon has built things before. Often my work is installation-based, so I’m working with space.

Read more: An interview with the architectural design principal for Te Pae

How did the two of you come together for this?
R: We went to art school together about 30 years ago in Dunedin-
S: -in the late ‘80s, early ‘90s.
R: And we’ve exhibited together in a number of Ngāi Tahu exhibitions. And we’re founding members of a Ngāi Tahu arts trust, Paemanu. At the time this project came up, I had a residency at Dunedin School of Art and Simon was teaching there in a hosting role and we decided to give it a go as a collaborative project.

Can you tell us a bit about the design you’ve come up with?
S: It’s a response to the brief, to have an expression of mana in the city, for mana whenua. It’s inspirational and contextual to the area. And we responded to Te Aika whare at Kaiapoi.

With the distinctive structure over the entrance?
S: Right. At the time it was built, that was quite common in Te Waipounamu, it’s quite southern-specific.
R: The sculpture had to do a couple of things. It’s a ngutu, a gateway or ceremonial entranceway, like on a marae. It had to function that way as well as being a sculptural piece. And they used the word ‘iconic’ in the brief; something that would become instantly recognisable. Te Pae is a place where people will gather from around the world. Well, eventually. We were thinking about the purpose for such a centre, for gathering, wānanga, trade, talking, all those things, and we had the idea of birds that come from afar. So we were trying to get the impression of feathers, and it became like a kākahu, or a cloak with open arms. It’s got a number of visual references that get represented through it.

What type of bird are the feathers representative of?
R: Kōtuku, a native heron. We heard that there has been an increase in sightings of the kōtuku since the earthquakes. That’s hearsay, but it’s a nice thought.
S: It’s a good omen.
R: It is. And they’ve been planting trees all along the river, building a bird corridor into the centre of the city. S: We actually designed the top of the sculpture so kōtuku could nest in it, too.
R: That’s not true! Don’t write that down.

I just write what I hear. How did you feel designing art that would have the enormous Te Pae and the Ōtākaro Avon River as its backdrop?
R: There’s obviously responsibilities in putting up anything that’s a permanent feature in a city. We went through quite a process with mana whenua in order to be sure it would be something that would uphold mana. We’re both Ngāi Tahu. S: And we’re both whakapapa to the place. I think the main focus is not so much about us as individuals producing this, but rather producing it so Ngāi Tahu and mana whenua are recognised well in the space. In many ways we were sort of entrusted to get this right. R: Another public work I’ve done is painting tukutuku panels for a marae and- S: -that’s true. Marae projects have a similar responsibility. R: It needs to last the distance and serve the purpose.

Read more: Ōtākaro general manager John O'Hagan on delivering this Anchor Project

How did you choose the materials and dimensions?
R: It’s eight metres high and it’s wider than eight metres. We had to get it big enough to exist next to that building the size of a city block, and also make it so it doesn’t look like part of the building. It’s a steel structure with coated aluminium cladding and LED lights. We were thinking it would be made of wood, laminated wood. But at the time there wasn’t a process that could give us a 50-year signoff. At one point I was looking at a polished mirror finish, then someone told me how much the Chicago Bean cost and I was like “OK, let’s never have that conversation again.”

Will the LEDs light it up from below?
S: It’s going to illuminate from within the structure, but fairly subtly. We haven’t seen it yet.
R: It’s one of those things that’s really hard to know. You know how you want it to look on a computer, and you know how it looks on models.
S: We’re putting a lot of trust in our lighting engineer.
R: The lighting will be white. We considered other colours, but we settled on white to represent the kōtuku. And it sits in contrast to the stone colours of the building. We were thinking about it changing colours for different occasions, but...

Like the arch at the airport?
R: Exactly. And we didn’t want it to be too similar to the arch at the airport.
S: I think there’s a certain amount of simplicity to the design of the sculpture, starting from just two sheets of metal overlapping each other in the original design.

Does the design have any reference to its namesake Aperahama Te Aika?
R: We landed on the form, which is based on Te Aika whare. Te Maire Tau named the sculpture Te Aika, acknowledging the people in the house and the family-
S: -the whakapapa here.
R: Te Maire Tau was involved with this. He’s a historian, he wrote the grand narrative for the rebuild here.

What’s your favourite piece of public art in Ōtautahi?
S: I think Lonnie Hutchinson's Justice Precinct wall [Pikihuia i te ao, i te pō] is pretty amazing. It was one of the first contemporary works installed that had quite a big impact on the urban landscape.
R: One of my favourites is VAKA ‘A HINA. It is so beautiful and simple and unusual. [Sēmisi Fetokai Potauaine] totally nailed it.

What are you working on next?
S: We’re co-curating a huge project for Dunedin Public Art Gallery in December.
R: It’s been a few years in the making as well. We’ll be occupying the whole gallery, pretty much. It’s called Tauraka Toi: A Landing Place.
S: There will be at least 30 Ngāi Tahu contemporary artists involved.
R: And we’re part of a larger curatorial team.

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