Art with a heart

The giant Mine Bay Maori rock carving of Ngatoroirangi has been hailed as one of New Zealand’s most extraordinary contemporary Maori artworks, writes Neeta Lal

I am in Taupo, a handsome town perched on the edge of New Zealand’s largest lake. And befittingly, I’m flagging off my trip to North Island’s ‘Adventure Capital’ with a cruise on Lake Taupo.

At the Taupo Boat Harbour, a pristine white sailing yacht is docked up and the owner and skipper Peter Battell welcomes me onboard with an effusive handshake, gesturing towards my co-cruisers — a motley group of 25-odd people including families, tour operators and Maori tribesmen with tattooed faces!

Navigating wind

A round of introductions later it’s clear that while some of us have sailed before, most are clueless about the mammoth yacht that mimics one from the Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Peter runs us through what he will be doing; the wind conditions he is looking out for navigation; what is ‘tacking’ (a sailing manoeuvre) , ‘jibing’ (changing course to wind direction), ‘helming’ (steering) etc. By the time the sails are up, there’s enough wind to get us moving up towards six-seven knots on the water. The yacht we’re sailing on, we’re informed, is powered by an electric motor rather than a polluting diesel/petrol one. Reassured that in these environmentally fraught times, our eco-friendly boat will emit no noise or toxic fumes, we look forward to enjoying a guilt-free excursion. As we left the harbour, Peter showed us the exact point that marked the beginning of New Zealand’s longest river, the Waikato.

“How does everyone feel when I say that we are now sailing on the world’s second-largest volcano?” he said from the helm. Nervous glances dashed around the boat before we all burst out laughing!

The icebreaker provided the perfect opening for Peter to enlighten us about the geology of the area — the Taupo Volcanic Zone, active for the past two million years and still highly volatile!

Halfway into the cruise, we watch the sun sink into Lake Taupo setting its water ablaze in brilliant hues. The mountains of the Tongariro National Park glowed in the distance. We took turns to help Peter change the direction of the sails. The cruise fostered a kind of cultural detente among us, passengers, triggering an aura of collective wonderment as we explored one of the world’s greatest lakes. After about an hour, we got to the attraction we’d all been holding our breaths for — the Maori rock carvings!

Towering 14-metres above Lake Taupo on the cliffs of Mine Bay, these native carvings were created in the late 1970s by master carver Matahi Whakataka- Brightwell who trained under his Maori ancestors. He was sent off to Taupo by his grandmother to carve a pou whenua (a Maori totem) to consolidate his tribe’s claim to the disputed ancestral land.

Visionary Brightwell

While paddling his canoe around Whakamoenga Point, Brightwell stumbled upon a rock alcove where he had the vision to carve the face of Ngatoroirangi, a mythical navigator and tohunga (high priest).

According to Maori legend, the latter had transported early Maori settlers to New Zealand over a thousand years ago. The rock alcove at Mine Bay thus became Brightwell’s canvas for one of the largest and most iconic pieces of Maori art. It was sculpted on the rock face over four summers (1976-80) by the artist and his four assistants, wearing nothing but safety goggles and a pair of speedos. Brightwell used very basic material — chalk, string lines, spray paint — to sculpt the carving by hand. Surrounding Ngatoroirangi are smaller sculptures depicting tupuna (ancestors) and kaitiaki (guardians), both pivotal to the history of the local Maori tribe.

However, despite Brightwell’s noble intention to cement Maori heritage through his work, his carving ruffled feathers at the time with opposition from both local pakeha (New Zealanders of European descent) and, more troublingly for the artist, local Maoris. Such was the abuse at its peak that Brightwell chose to ultimately leave his ancestor blind. He didn’t sculpt the eyes. Since 2019 Brightwell has been working on restoring the carvings and hopes to give it eyes this time around.

On the way back, Peter regaled us with some more legends about Brightwell’s stunning masterpiece as famous Mexican poet Cesar A Cruz’s words floated in my head: “Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.”