Mural honours heritage
An idea that has been in the works for more than a year has finally come to fruition at Nelson South Kindergarten.
mural depicting various aspects of Maori legend, painted by a parent of one of the kindergarten’s students, was unveiled after a traditional blessing by Whaea Emma Haruru last Wednesday. Teacher Steph Hazlitt-Black said the kindergarten wanted to produce something tangible to show support of its multicultural students.
‘‘We have some challenges to kindergartens,’’ she said.
‘‘All our fundraising is to update and support our bicultural practices.’’ After nearly a year of planning, designing and gathering materials for the mural, local artist and father-of-four Glenn Holmes began the first of hundreds of hours on the artwork earlier this year.
The mural depicts the legend of Maui and the sun, guardian of different
other peace and agriculture Rongomatane, and guardian of wild and uncultivated foods Haumiatiketike alongside other Maori guardians. The piece also features Holmes’ original birds made out of metal which he sells at Nelson’s Saturday markets, adding a textural element.
‘‘I was approached around this time last year, and have been planning since then,’’ Holmes said. ‘‘I spent hundreds of hours pottering away at it. During the last three weeks I worked 14 hours a day.’’
The children have been learning about their Maori ancestors, and Hazlitt-Black wanted to give them something artistic they could interact with outside of the book they have been studying called In The Beginning.
‘‘It’s a bit more real for them,’’ Hazlitt-Black said.
The kindergarten had many students with a refugee background and no English language, she said. She said the kindergarten would soon be looking to incorporate the other cultures of its children, including Burma, Myanmar, China and the Pacific Islands, in the playground.