The statues still standing
The Captain Hamilton statue has fallen but his fellows in the city also have a colourful history. Mike Mather reports.
Hamilton’s least-loved statue might have been carted away but, from Riff Raff to Little Bull, the city’s residents still have plenty of love for the city’s remaining effigies.
But that hasn’t always been the case. Belying their grey, stolid nature, many of the statues of Hamilton have a colourful and, at times, inflammatory history.
Hamilton’s motionless denizens have suddenly found themselves in the spotlight following the surprise disinterring of the Captain Hamilton statue outside the Hamilton City Council headquarters earlier this month, after threats were made to have it removed by force.
While the captain – who led troops at the battle of Gate Pa and apparently never set foot in the city that bears his name – has become for some a figure synonymous with the repression and slaughter of Ma¯ ori during the New Zealand Wars, his is not the only Hamilton statue that has been subjected to some form of ire.
The 1.8m-high statues of Sobek and Horus, the Egyptian gods of water and life respectively, provoked protest when they were installed in the Hamilton Gardens in 1991. Church leaders declared they were worried the pair would become objects of pagan worship.
Two months after installation – in a startling parallel to recent vandalism of the Captain Hamilton statue – the two gods were attacked. They were spraypainted red and pieces were smashed off by an unknown assailant.
The Farming Family, situated in a traffic island at the intersection of Victoria and Ulster streets, also sparked controversy – albeit some years after its installation in 1990, as part of a series of events marking the country’s sesquicentennial.
The cast bronze figures of a farmer, his wife, their two children, a cow, a sheep and a dog was
‘‘My devious character was certainly formed in Hamilton or the times I had in Hamilton.’’
Richard O’Brien
created by sculptor Margriet Windhausen – the artist behind Captain Hamilton – and was gifted to the city by businessman Sir Robert Jones, who at the time owned several properties in the central business district.
At the unveiling of the statue a few members of the McGillicuddy Serious Party – including Laird McGillicuddy himself, Graeme Cairns – appeared adorned head to foot in grey paint after somehow managing to sneak under the sheet hiding the statues from public view shortly before the unveiling.
As the sheet was lifted, lo and behold: The family was revealed to have had the addition of some new members, much to the shock of the assembled dignitaries.
Sixteen years later the statue was back in the headlines when then-mayor Michael Redman called for its relocation to a more accessible location, sparking a flurry of debate over the meaning and intention of the figures.
In 2010 Waikato University community psychologist Neville Robertson described a plaque near the statue, – which commemorates the ‘‘unsung heroes of our first 150 years’’ – as ‘‘racist and offensive’’ and completely ignoring the role Ma¯ ori played in the region’s history.
That prompted a bluntly worded rebuke from Jones, who said Robertson’s comments ‘‘touched on two Waikato traditions, one a source of great pride and the other of great embarrassment.
‘‘The first is the region’s renowned pastoral industry, rightly admired throughout New Zealand. The second is Waikato University, ridiculed across the land in academic circles for its lightweight standards.
‘‘Robertson upholds that inglorious reputation superbly with his idiotic remarks.’’
The prospect of the arrival of a statue dedicated to the deviant butler Riff Raff, as depicted in The Rocky Horror Picture Show by the musical’s creator Richard O’Brien, filled some Hamiltonians with trepidation.
Then-councillor Jocelyn Marshall, an avid supporter of the arts in Hamilton, said she ‘‘sagaciously opposed’’ Riff Raff after recalling a former prime minister’s role as narrator on a stage production.
‘‘I associate the Rocky Horror Show with Rob Muldoon and fishnet tights and bad makeup. It’s not something that Hamiltonians can feel particularly proud of.’’
O’Brien – who wrote several of the songs featured in Rocky Horror while living in Hamilton – said at the time he was ‘‘exceptionally flattered’’ about the statue.
‘‘My devious character was certainly formed in Hamilton or the times I had in Hamilton.’’
Located at the heart of the city’s nightlife district, Riff Raff has since been take to heart by Hamiltonians and on any Friday night can often be seen surrounded by revellers.
Most of the rest of Hamilton’s statue population appear to have had mostly more peaceful lives. Little Bull, created by acclaimed sculptor Molly Macalister, sits not far from the roadside at the Hamilton Gardens and has been subjected to many a drunken hug from members of the nearby student population who visit the gardens after dark.
The attention was not always so heartwarming though. Not long after its installation in 1968, the sedate-looking creature was subjected to graffiti and at one point was even firebombed – although who could bear ill will against the loveable bovine remains, at this point, unknown.
In recent times, organisations like Mesh Sculpture Hamilton and the Theatre of the Impossible Charitable Trust (TOTI) have taken the lead on initiating and funding statues, sculptures and other works of public art around the city.
Mesh’s most notable recent projects include the ‘‘portal’’ Te Tatau ki Kirikiriroa at Victoria on the River, the striking Tongue of the Dog sculpture near the entrance to Waikato Museum, and Te Waharoa ki te Ao Maarama – The Entranceway to the World of Enlightenment near Lake Rotoroa.
TOTI’s accomplishments include the statue of Sapper Horace Moore-Jones on Victoria St (which has an official title of In the Line of Fire), the War Horse Statue at Memorial Park, and a planned statue of pioneering politician Dame Hilda Ross.
Statues can help define a community. The Little Mermaid is a symbol of Copenhagen. The Charging Bull is Wall Street in New York. So too was its temporary companion, Fearless Girl.
Closer to home, Napier’s Pania of the Reef, an icon of that city since the mid-1950s, has had a rough time in recent years. In 1982 she was shot in the head and in 2005 was briefly abducted by thieves.
Wairaka, who stands at the Whakatane Heads, the Colin Meads statue in Te Kuiti, Hairy Maclary and Friends in Tauranga and Wellington’s Solace in the Wind statues have all become symbols of their communities for one reason or another.
Mark Servian, chairman of the Riff Raff Public Art Trust, said while the slowly increasing population of statues and other works of art around Hamilton should be applauded, the organisations that put them up had a tendency towards supporting established or elite artists.
‘‘There needs to be some kind of mechanism that would allow ordinary people to put their own ideas forward for consultation.
‘‘Don’t get me wrong – I think everything that what
Mesh and Toti have done is great. The [Te Tatau ki Kirikiriroa] archway at Victoria on the River is fantastic. But you can never have too much.
‘‘There’s always room for more statues, more art, more stories and more diverse stories to be told.’’
Servian said he liked an idea by Tu¯ hoe artist and activist Tame Iti, who said the monuments should all be taken down and put in one place in the form of an exhibition on racism.
This could be similar to the Muzeon Park of Arts in Moscow, which is now home to a multitude of Soviet era statues commemorating prominent figures of that era.
‘‘The most important thing is to lift one’s spirits so that the journey I’m on in life will never get too burdensome,’’ Iti told the Maori news programme Te Karere, not long after the removal of the Captain Hamilton statue.
‘‘That applies to everyone. That’s important. Hence why I’m talking about those monuments that can be found around the country that depict those individuals as being honourable. They’re not.
‘‘Were it up to me, I would imprison those statues, like the one of John Hamilton, in a museum.’’
Servian said he was thrilled that with time Riff Raff was slowly becoming more symbolic of Hamilton.
‘‘Riff Raff was the first piece of public art that Weta Workshops ever did. They have done a whole lot more now. It’s intriguing to see that they put him on a pedestal, because he is not the kind of character that you usually see being put on a pedestal.’’
Servian’s own suggestion for a statue was Hamilton-born novelist Frank
Sargeson, who is credited with introducing
everyday New
Zealand English to literature. A good location for such an effigy could be at the site of the old Paul’s Book Arcade store on Victoria St, across the road from Riff Raff ‘‘and possibly pointing straight at Riff Raff with an expression on his face of ‘What the hell’s that?’’’
Ma¯ ori and Pa¯ keha¯ needed to come together to discuss future statue placements in the city, he said.
‘‘We need to have a talk about what it is that we want to commemorate in this town … we need to recognise who was here first, as well as who came along after.’’
You could say Richard Clarke is used to building significant outcomes from unpromising situations. He presided over the emergence of the New Zealand Breakers from Australian National Basketball League cellar-dwellers to champions for three years in a row, and most recently kick-started the successful return of the Brisbane Bullets to the same league.
Now Clarke is back in New Zealand and facing another challenge that is sure to test his organisational and leadership abilities. The proven basketball boss is now playing a wider game, as head of major events for Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (Ateed). It is his job to help get New Zealand’s largest urban area up and running postCovid via the important avenues of sport, culture and the arts – and the impact they can have on the economy of his city.
It’s a change of pace for an executive who has spent the best part of the last 17 years immersed in basketball – 13 with the Breakers (11 as general manager) and the last three and a half with the Bullets, re-establishing them in the NBL after a significant hiatus. But it fits perfectly with his desire to expand his career horizons.
‘‘My purpose has always been to have a positive impact on as many people as possible, and this offers a very broad lens to do that. There is a lot of opportunity and it’s a pretty exciting way to come back to Auckland, and use my connections to hopefully make a difference,’’ says Clarke during a chat at Ateed’s city centre HQ.
He admits he’s having to extend his comfort zone, with his work encompassing a multitude of major events that have an impact across a wide spectrum of society. From the America’s Cup to Pasifika, from the World Surf League to the Comedy Festival, from V8s to Te Matatini, his job is to support events that are in many ways the lifeblood of his city.
‘‘This is me well beyond the basketball bubble,’’ he shrugs. ‘‘At the Breakers we just happened to be a basketball club, but were to all intents and purposes a social development organisation and basketball was how we effected change. That’s what attracts me to this too. It’s an opportunity to use events, sport, culture and arts to have a real impact on the city.’’
Of course Clarke’s role has been exponentially challenged by the arrival of the Covid-19 virus and the major shutdown caused by the global pandemic. No sooner had he got his feet under his desk in his new role than he was cancelling events in rapid succession and contemplating tourism and hospitality sectors, among others, in freefall.
When Covid struck the Ateed-owned Pasifika Festival and World Surf League round at Piha, both had to be shut down at the last minute. It’s only now, thanks to New Zealand’s world-leading fight against the virus and the move to alert level 1, that planning can begin again for major events of this scale, with fingers crossed that the two new cases this week don’t escalate.
‘‘Events are a catalyst for city outcomes, and I think those outcomes are going to become broader postCovid,’’ says Clarke. ‘‘At the moment we look at things like GDP, visitor nights, sociability, promoting Auckland as an international brand. You see with the America’s Cup one of the key outcomes is infrastructure legacy. Events can do a lot things that have a lasting impact on a city and the exciting part is looking at where our investment can have the biggest impact.’’
But Covid also serves up a chance to change thinking and reset guidelines. ‘‘It’s given us a mandate to think differently about how we do things. Events are going to play a significant role in the recovery of the economy because they can stimulate activity. Coming through the alert levels, one of our challenges was to look at scalability for events. Level 1 is really exciting but it also means our planning is valid because we can scale up.
’’It’s been an interesting time to arrive but also a time when you can make even more impact by leading that thinking. Coming in from a commercial background with a different way of thinking, it’s been useful to test the status quo.’’
Ateed dishes out about $8 million a year supporting sporting and cultural events in the city, though its America’s Cup backing sits in a separate budget. They are not all landmark international events either, such as the women’s cricket and rugby world cups next year, or the V8s, annual tennis tournaments and motor rally.
It is also helping out the National Basketball League, which is running a hybrid competition in Auckland from June 23 to August 1 that sprang up out of the ruins of Covid-19. Clarke says it’s backing the sport deserves for its ability to think on its feet and leap so quickly back into action.
Plus there are benefits to Auckland through accommodation bookings, economic impact and an international broadcast. ‘‘All that stacked up, and the ability to support a Kiwi league being innovative appealed,’’ says Clarke. ‘‘It’s a chance to show some different thinking but if you look at outcomes for the city, they’re consistent with a lot of other events we’re backing.’’
Next year is shaping as a big one for Auckland with those twin world cups, the America’s Cup, Te Matatini (the national Ma¯ ori performing arts festival to be held at Eden Park) as well as the regular events such as motorsport, tennis and surfing. But there remain question marks because of the unknown factor of international travel. Will borders reopen? Will quarantines apply? Will visitors still come?
‘‘It’s a very complex time and people have to be dynamic and fluid with decision-making,’’ says Clarke, who considers solution-focused thinking and positivity as pillars of the recovery. ‘‘The good thing is all those events are planning on still delivering. It will be the attitude of Aucklanders and New Zealanders that will help us get through this.’’
And despite talk that the America’s Cup might have turbulent waters to negotiate, Clarke remains bullish on the event providing its usual flow of interest, visitors and economic benefit.
‘‘It might even be bigger than normal because of the
‘‘New Zealand’s response to Covid has been passionate and patriotic. That will be showcased again in the America’s Cup.’’
scarcity of other competitions. New Zealand’s response to Covid has been passionate and patriotic. We wanted to beat it and be the best in the world. That will be showcased again in the America’s Cup. New Zealanders are uniquely passionate about it, and I think it still resonates very much.’’
Like equivalent organisations around the country, Ateed sees itself playing an important role in the long post-Covid economic recovery. . ‘‘We’re working with all our postponed events on rescheduling and how we retain them in Auckland. It’s about investing in things to help people return to normal. We need to rebuild our events portfolio, to get more things happening and to stimulate the accommodation and hospitality sectors, as well as those small businesses that are part of that supply chain.’’
If there’s a pot of gold, reckons Clarke, it’s the mooted trans-Tasman bubble. ‘‘It’s huge. It’s a sustainable economy for both countries in the short to medium term. In the meantime, he feels ‘‘energised’’ by having a privileged chance to be ‘‘part of the solution . . . We can help in economic development and getting businesses active again’’.
He also firmly believes his time running basketball clubs either side of the Tasman has prepared him for this. ‘‘Ultimately those businesses all came down to people – how to get them engaged and excited and part of a collective outcome. That’s no different here. It’s about bringing people together for a common purpose.’’
To borrow some terminology from his old gigs, it’s all about the rebound now.