Onetangi Waka Launch
Media Release April 2024
The Years-Long Transformation of a Fallen Waiheke Island Pōhutukawa
Ringatoi/Sculptor and Arts and Heritage Champions
Collaborate on Special Waka Sculpture
A fallen pohutukawa is transformed.
The artist and his raw material were a match seven centuries in the making. After a six-metre-tall, 700-year-old pōhutukawa tree fell on their Waiheke Island property, arts champions and philanthropists Andrew Barnes and Charlotte Lockhart went looking for a special artist who could give the tree new life in a different form. They found Anton Forde, the artist and ringatoi/sculptor who is known for his works that connect with land and nature.
Forde has spent the past four years painstakingly carving a 16-metre waka from the pōhutukawa, enduring interruptions caused by a pandemic, natural disaster, and other major life events. The artist has fashioned his carving after a waka tētē, a type of travelling waka, which would have been common on Waiheke.
The waka is to be blessed in a dawn ceremony at Postage Stamp Wines on 4 May, at which its name, gifted by Ngāti Pāoa, will be revealed. A second, public event and celebration will follow later the same day.
The waka sculpture will then be permanently located at the entrance to Postage Stamp Wines and open to the public, who are welcome to visit during opening hours.
The waka will be kept close to the sea and installed at the winery, which is owned by Ms Lockhart and Mr Barnes. Waiheke Island itself holds great cultural significance dating back over seven hundred years, when waka would journey from Coromandel, Aotea, and Tāmaki Makaurau. People ventured to the island for sustenance, particularly fish, and would pause for replenishment at a puna (spring) on the island. Postage Stamp is in an area where these waka would be anchored. Travellers would navigate through Pūtiki Bay and an estuary to reach their destination.
Anton Forde says, “I think everyone here in Aotearoa New Zealand connects with a waka in some way. Many important things have happened [as the waka was created] – births, deaths, marriages, sicknesses, a pandemic, floods. Through this time this work has been a constant in my life and has enabled connection and reconnection in many ways. For me it’s one of the biggest works I’ve ever done, and the last waka I’ll ever do. For the last four years, for every work I’ve completed, this waka has been there with me, and with Charlotte and Andrew. It’s special.”
Charlotte Lockhart says, “The pōhutukawa had stood proudly for its lifetime at the entrance to the harbour, a beacon for people coming to Auckland. When I contacted Anton and said, ‘We’ve got this tree. Do you want some wood?’, I never envisaged we would have such a magnificent piece. I thought he might make a whole group of art objects from it, but the journey we’ve been on is a single piece of art from this tree. For Andrew and me, it is largely about rejuvenation and the circle of life – it all happened in the year I got my metastatic cancer diagnosis as well.
“While the tree has gone from our home, it has been given a new birth. It represents society in general, I think, how life goes in waves, not just a constant line. It's always ups and downs. For me, the waka represents the idea there’s always hope – when there are bad times, you hold on to hope and the good times will come again.”
Andrew Barnes says, “The story of the waka’s creation is very personal for everyone involved. Charlotte and I, and Anton and Ngāti Pāoa have supported each other to create a deeply connected sculpture, from the first karakia or blessing of the tree when it came down to the final whakatuwhera, the unveiling, of the waka.
“To protect and maintain this incredible waka sculpture for generations to come, we set up the Onetangi Waka Trust via the Perpetual Guardian Foundation, through which we fielded our personal funding to commission its creation, with a structure to ensure its ongoing upkeep.”
Over the past decade Forde’s sustainably milled hardwood, stone sculptures, and installations have been shown at solo and group exhibitions in Aotearoa, Australia, Ireland, and San Francisco.
On the front of the waka sculpture is a kuaka, connecting with a significant nearby bay Kuakarau, and the bird that travels thousands of kilometres in March, returning home in summer; and a whai (stingray) that is often referred to as a kaitiaki of the area. Represented on the back of the waka is Tangaroa / Atua of waterways, and an albatross raukura / feather. The rauawa / side gunnels connect with pakura / pūkeko footsteps connecting with the estuary and puna that have been a playground for pūkeko for centuries.
Regarding the age of the pōhutukawa, a credible estimate of approximately 700 years can be made because of the kauri harvesting activity in the second half of the 19th century that was one of the first primary industries on Waiheke Island. After harvesting the island was largely set on fire. Pōhutakawa and puriri often survived the intense heat as they are such dense trees. This is why many of the fenceposts on Waiheke are made of puriri. This pōhutukawa is acknowledged as one of the old ones due to its tall, straight main trunk.
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For more information:
Laura Air
Alexander PR
+64 21 259 3242
laura@alexanderpr.co.nz
About Anton Forde (Ngāti Ruanui, Taranaki, Gaeltacht, Gaelic, English)
Masters of Māori Visual Arts (first-class honours with distinction)
B. Ed, Dip Tching, Post Grad. Dip. Māori Visual Arts (distinction)
Anton Forde (Taranaki, Gaeltacht, Gaelic, English) began carving aged 18 and studied art under influential sculptors Paul Dibble, Gary Whiting and Paul Hansen, then Professor Robert Jahnke at Massey University’s Māori Visual Arts Programme Toioho ki Āpiti. Under the supervision of Professor Jahnke, Anton gained a Post Graduate Diploma in Māori Visual Arts with Distinction and achieved a Masters of Māori Visual Arts with First Class Honours.
Anton has since spent extended periods living in Taranaki and in Èire/Ireland learning ancient art themes. He now calls Waiheke Island home.
Anton has exhibited both as a solo artist and as part of group exhibitions, in Aotearoa/New Zealand, Èire/Ireland, and San Francisco, concentrating on sculptures and installations over the past 12 years. His works feature in public and private collections both in New Zealand and around the world.
Connection to the land, majesty of nature, first nation indigenous cultures and the effects of climate change are the main themes that Anton Forde’s work explores, building on the idea that each individual work can make an aesthetic as well as a social statement.
Anton Forde is represented by Forde Gallery: www.fordegallery.com
About Andrew Barnes and Charlotte Lockhart
As philanthropists and champions of the arts, art preservation, and heritage restoration, Andrew and Charlotte have extended their support through New Zealand and across the globe. Close to their Waiheke Island home they directed Perpetual Guardian’s sponsorship of the biennial Sculpture on the Gulf exhibition to showcase newly created works by many of New Zealand’s top artists.
They saved the historic classic racing yacht Ariki from near ruin by purchasing her and undertaking an extensive restoration project which saw Ariki re-launched in 2018 at the National Maritime Museum in Auckland, where she is now berthed.
Andrew and Charlotte personally gifted $300,000 in funding to Te Papa, resulting in a more accessible gallery for all, with glass balustrades put in place across the Toi Art walkway and in front of Tiffany Singh’s Indra’s bow, allowing the public to view a larger section of the artwork from a much more accessible angle. The previous balustrades with opaque glass, meant children and wheelchair users were not able to see through to the artworks in the gallery below.
As noted art collectors, Andrew and Charlotte have established a collection of mostly New Zealand artists to display at their homes and offices. They are major donors to the Le Quesnoy NZ war memorial and the British New Zealand War Memorial in Wellington, and commissioned a sculpture, also by Anton Forde, at the British High Commission in Wellington in conjunction with Te Āti Awa.
The couple is behind the long-term sponsorships of the Perpetual Guardian Planetarium at Otago Museum and the APPA Music Festivals’ Choir. In addition, on 2024 they became the presenting sponsor for the Auckland Wooden Boat Festival. They also ensured Perpetual Guardian’s funding support in the successful bid for letters and other possessions of Sir Edmund Hillary; these important historical artefacts are now on permanent public display in the Hillary collection at Auckland Museum.
In addition, the couple follow their passion for wine with two vineyards on Waiheke Island, Postage Stamp Wines and Obsidian Vineyard and in 2022 they took ownership of the Waiheke Wine Centre.
Andrew is a trustee for the King’s Trust (formally known as the Prince’s Trust) New Zealand in support of his British heritage and desire to help young people in New Zealand achieve great lives. He is on the Antarctic Heritage Trust board due to his passion for adventure and the New Zealand Memorial Museum Trust – Le Quesnoy board because he values the role New Zealand played in being a great partner in worldwide freedom.
Much of his work to preserve heritage is inspired by Andrew’s lifelong interest in archaeology and history. He holds a Master of Arts in Archaeology from Selwyn College at the University of Cambridge and has participated in archaeological digs in Afghanistan and Pakistan to help safeguard precious objects and artefacts for the enjoyment and edification of future generations.
Charlotte spends much of her time working with their team at 4 Day Week Global, the organisation established by the couple to promote the concept of productivity focused, reduced hours workplaces around the world. She is an advisory board member of the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford and the World Wellbeing Movement. In New Zealand she is on the board of Give-a-little.
After her diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer in 2021, Charlotte has become a significant donor and supporter for Sweet Louise, a charity which provides practical, emotional and social care and support for New Zealanders living with incurable breast cancer.
With a passion for classic cars, in May of 2024 the couple will be again driving their 1941 Chevrolet Coupe, Eleanor, from China to France on the famed Peking to Paris Rally.
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