Quick work by council after Napier Sailing Club tower mural vandalised

Napier City Council wasted little time removing offensive graffiti from Sea Walls’ project artwork that’s been a feature of the city for eight years.

A swastika and other scrawling was drawn on the Napier Sailing Club tower mural at Te Karaka - once-known as Perfume Point - and spotted on Wednesday.

The historic name is in place in Ahuriri as a part of a Treaty claims settlement. The tower featuring the mural is at the entrance to the Napier inner harbour the once expansive inland waterway Te Whanganui a Orotu.

Sea Walls artist Aaron Glasson at work on the sailing club tower mural in early 2016. Photo / NZME

When the vandalism was done is unclear, but it lasted less than 24 hours after the council became aware of it.

The mural, telling the story of Pania and son Moremore to highlight the threat to the Pania reef (and all reefs) caused by development, overfishing and pollution, is the work of now San Diego-based New Zealand-born artist Aaron Glasson as part of the Sea Walls – Artists for Oceans project.

Napier artist Cinzah Merkens said it’s the first vandalism of any of the Sea Walls murals completed by a team of artists in Napier in 2016-2017, but warned against conjecture as to who was responsible and why.

“I wouldn’t over-think the context of it,” he said, adding: “There is always a risk of putting works in public places. Muralism is a temporal art-form that takes on the life of its surroundings and all that interact with, and occupy, its space.”

The tower featuring the mural by Aaron Glasson at Te Karaka long-known as Perfume Point. Photo / Ian Cooper

Artists worked closely with the Tāreha whānau, of Waiohiki, for reference and imagery around the pūrākau (storytelling) of the mural, one about 50 completed by the team in Napier.

“The works are ultimately about raising awareness around the plight of the ocean, the issues we all currently face, and expressing hope and solutions towards moving forward to a more sustainable future,” he said.

“We’ve got an amazing collection of works here.”

Napier City Councillor Maxine Boag who was a follower and supporter of the project, said it was “very sad” that the mural had been defaced, but she was pleased the council had responded so quickly.

Some had disappeared with the demolition of buildings – including one of two large features of the council’s civic building that was demolished last year.

Possibly the most prominent survivor is that on the seaward side of the National Aquarium, on Marine Pde.

Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke’s Bay Today, and has 50 years of journalism experience in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues, and personalities.