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Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Mr G's Tauranga, not Towel-Wronger: Nine more pronunciation pieces go up for sale

Caroline Fleming
By Caroline Fleming
Multimedia Journalist·Bay of Plenty Times·
1 Mar, 2020 07:12 PM2 mins to read

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Nine new artworks have gone up for sale online.

Nine new artworks have gone up for sale online.

Tauranga artist Mr G has taken his "towel-wronger" artwork inspiration a little bit further, replicating the piece with other commonly mispronounced te reo place names.

Nine new artworks have gone up for sale online highlighting the need for proper pronunciation of Māori place names.

Graham Hoete, also known as Mr G, gained national recognition for his "Tauranga, not towel-wronger" painting that was recently purchased by Tauranga Airport.

Graham Hoete gained national recognition for his "Tauranga, not towel-wronger" painting. Photo / Supplied
Graham Hoete gained national recognition for his "Tauranga, not towel-wronger" painting. Photo / Supplied

The art was designed to look like a road sign with "Welcome to Towel-Wronger" crossed out with red spray paint. Tauranga was written in capitals underneath and the correct pronunciation "Toe-rrrung-a" below.

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The new pieces included local town names like Whakatāne, Kawerau and Taupō.

Nine new artworks have gone up for sale online.
Nine new artworks have gone up for sale online.

Hoete said he did the paintings due to the "huge demand" and he planned to chip away at more when he could.

He said he was "not trying to have a dig at anyone" but genuinely just wanted to help.

He wanted to reiterate the importance of pronunciation but with "empathy" so people would receive it well.

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"It's a fun way to turn the tide."

Nine new artworks have gone up for sale online.
Nine new artworks have gone up for sale online.

He said to honour pronunciation was to honour the culture of a city.

There were a number of bids and watchers already on the paintings, however the reserve had not yet been met on any of them.

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