Our mayor a budding craftsman
“I’m not really an artist as such. I’mmore of a craftsman and assembler of bits,” says Western BayMayor Garry Webber.
He is among a line-up of artists featuring in an upcoming Edge Sculpture Exhibition at the People’s Gallery at The Incubator.
The exhibition, which opens tomorrow, features several of Webber’s works but it is his prized work The Buried Hatchets of Tauranga thatwill take centre stage.
The piece sits insideMr Webber’s mayoral office and incorporates two adzes, one made of kauri and the other of to¯tara, each with a Celtic design carved into the body and Ma¯ori design carved into the heads. Each adze holds two different types of pounamu and has harakeke (flax) woven around them, binding them together.
Mr Webber, who has a deep passion for carving and gemstones, commissioned three local artists to do themore delicate details— one to carve the adzes, another to craft the flax “muka” style and another to sculpt and shape greenstone supplied by Mr Webber.
“I didn’t have the confidence to do as good of a job on these as they did.”
For Mr Webber, the piece represented a lot. The 150th commemorations of the Battle of Gate Pa¯, where Tauranga Moana iwi representative Antoine Coffin spoke ofmoving away from grievance mode and “going with the acceptance mode,” inspired the work.
“I was there as the only representative from local government. Because I thought thatwas such a significant day . . . I thought I’d try to make that,” he said.
“There are two different woods, there are two different carvings, two different pieces of greenstone. They all bring something to enrich the fabric of the environment,” Mr Webber said.
“It reflects the changing nature of New Zealand, how we as a society change and have more inter-racemarriages, etc. That’s what that represents to me— two different groups coming together.”
Another piece thatwill feature is a polished piece of greenstone that looks like Mauao if you’re looking from
mokoroa. Another is a piece of South Island agate formed around a fossilised fleck of fern.
“To me, if you want to have a full life, sitting at home watching TV is not that. You’ve got towalk up a river or go to some unique parts of New Zealand to find those pieces.”
A greenstone patu is another piece of pride for Mr Webber. He explains the importance of going with the grain of this piece, otherwise pieces just flake off.
“I made it all myself. It’s a sort of hobby I have.”
The collection reflectsMr Webber’s lifelong interest in the outdoors and New Zealand native wood and rock.
The Incubator’s Simone Anderson said thereweremany talented sculptors and carvers in the Bay of Plenty, but they were not necessarilywell known. This exhibition would hopefully help change that and celebrate homegrown talent by bringing them together.