Te Waharoa o Aotea (1990) has seen drabber days of existence, such as here, and here. Not any more, though. Artist Selwyn Muru, in honour of the reopening of Aotea Square, has added to the sculpture, and coloured it up. I like it.
Removed while the Council were renovating the square, it seems to be the only piece of art that has made it back. It's massive (and hard -- I've knocked my head against it twice in the past) and was dismantled piece by piece.
It includes Hone Tuwhare's (1922-2008) haiku which was changed slightly when used in an Auckland City Council sculpture project on the footpath just up from the Civic Theatre, to celebrate the (now) hidden Wai Horotiu, Queen Street's lost stream. Tuwhare's haiku (about a general stream, not necessarily the Horotiu) seems to have just been in English in its original form. Was a Maori translation added by Selwyn Muru on the scuplture in Aotea Square, or is the Maori text something else?
kaati te
whenguwhengu
ake irarona e
te awatipi haere
Pikimai e te ua
e te whatu
katakata mai
anora
stop
your snivelling
creek bed;
come rain hail
& flood-water
laugh again
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