Face of change as pou stand tall in square

Modern technology will meet traditional Maori art when 19 pou, representing as many marae, are carved and unveiled as part of the Hastings Civic Square redevelopment in July.

Each of the pou is being carved to represent an ancestor from each of the Heretaunga marae contributing to the project which will be the first of its kind in the country.

Organiser and Nga Marae o Heretaunga spokesperson Tama Huata said there were about 20 carvers and their support teams working on the pou at the former library building next to the Hastings District Council.

Each of the 19 marae selected carvers and the ancestor to be formed out of the totara poles which will eventually stand at the entrance to the civic square.

Every pou will have a narrative, history and whakapapa of the ancestor it represents, as selected by each marae. Those stories will be set up on QR codes for people to view on their mobile phones on civic square.

"We're aiming to have those narratives set up before the dawn ceremony so you can come along and scan the code to view them on your phone," Mr Huata said. "There will also be [video] clips of the whole process, from getting the timber through to the work by the carvers."

Mr Huata said while the project was significant for Hawke's Bay, it also served as an avenue to bring marae together with a view to working as a group on issues impacting on the Maori community.

"This has been very enlightening for all of the marae because it's something about themselves, their stories and it's them telling the stories.

"It's really the start of their future where they can go on to look at things like Whanau Ora, health, education, economic development."

Mr Huata said the work by Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga and Ngati Kahungunu Iwi was important but the results did not always reach the marae.

"What we are saying is that the taiwhenua and iwi organisations should keep on doing their work, we're not saying they should stop. But the marae is still the traditional home for whanau and this project is a way of giving it some attention because no one else is going to do it and we want to do something for ourselves."

Hastings District Council was formalising a plan where the pou will stand inside the civic square.