Images: (top) Testing text and design elements laser-cut into aluminium sample for the sculpture, with LED backlighting and diffuser material in place. Design: David Hakaraia. Manufacture: Human Dynamo Workshop (photo: Human Dynamo Workshop); (bottom left) Checking placement of LED lights on the internal frame of the sculpture. The long-lasting weather-resilient LED lights have been sourced from a manufacturer in Aotearoa; (bottom centre) Max Uivel from Human Dynamo Workshop, in front of the wood and plastic form in which the base of the sculpture will be cast in concrete; (bottom right) Components of the wood and plastic form in which the base of the sculpture will be cast in concrete. Black inserts have been 3D printed (photos: Wellington Writers Walk).

Wellington Writers Walk is excited to announce that a new sculpture with text in te reo Māori is to be installed on Wellington waterfront.

The plan is to have the sculpture installed in time for Matariki 2026, and Wellington Writers Walk is running a Boosted Campaign to cover the final installation costs for this project. Donations to the Boosted campaign can be made at www.thearts.co.nz/boosted/projects/wellington-writers-walk-sculpture.

This project is a partnership and collaboration between Wellington Writers Walk and Te Ātiawa/Taranaki Whānui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika, with support from Wellington City Council.

Philippa Werry, Chair of the Wellington Writers Walk committee, says, “we are thrilled to be creating our first sculpture in te reo Māori. The Walk is free to everyone who visits the waterfront and reminds us that our literature can be encountered as part of our daily lives.”

Since the unveiling of the first eleven sculptures in 2002, Wellington Writers Walk has grown to include a series of 23 quotations which honour and celebrate the lives and works of New Zealand writers – poets, novelists, and playwrights, all with some connection with Wellington.

The text for the new sculpture, “He Karakia mō Puanga mā Matariki”, was composed by Ben Ngaia (Te Āti Awa) and gifted to Wellington Writers Walk by the Wellington Tenths Trust and Palmerston North Māori Reserve Trusts. This karakia underlines the importance of Matariki and Puanga as a locally and nationally unifying event in our calendar.

The new sculpture is designed by Dave Hakaraia (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Paoa) with landscape work by Tama Whiting (Te Whānau-ā-Apanui) and production and project management by Human Dynamo. It will sit in a beautiful site with a clear view of the harbour to give people a full experience of sea and sky as a backdrop to the words and design.

Wellington Writers Walk is grateful for grants from the Public Art Fund and the Stout Trust (managed by Perpetual Guardian) and for support from the New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa (PEN NZ) Inc, Wellington City Council and the Waterfront Operations Team.

Watch the Wellington Writers Walk website and social media for more details, including our reveal of when and where this beautiful new sculpture will be placed.