NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Entertainment

Janet McAllister: Thai spirit house sparks spirited debate

By Janet McAllister
NZ Herald·
5 Dec, 2014 11:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Wihaan by Tiffany Singh. Photo / Tiffany Singh

Wihaan by Tiffany Singh. Photo / Tiffany Singh

It's unusual for New Zealand critics to give any artist a public roasting. So last summer, when commentator Daniel Michael Satele severely criticised Tessa Laird and Tiffany Singh on prominent art site EyeContact for cultural arrogance regarding their 2010 work Wihaan, it caused a minor sensation. Neither artist responded, until I visited Singh this week.

Wihaan was created as an Auckland City Council "Micro Site" temporary public artwork. It is a Thai spirit house - a small raised wooden "temple" where people can make offerings to local spirits - and, Singh says, the artists hoped to inspire "respect for difference" by making this spiritual practice visible. Another aim was to display a distinctly "Asian" silhouette for the city's Asian inhabitants.

Wihaan was first sited in Albert Park and then in a smaller park nearby. There, Singh says, people used Wihaan as any other spirit house, leaving incense and flowers and practising tai chi nearby. Last year, the artists suggested Wihaan should become permanent and this publicity caught Satele's notice.

(I think temporary artworks make our public spaces exciting and they spread funding around; complaining they're not permanent seems a terrible, council-discouraging idea.)

Satele suggests Singh and Laird are Orientalist - romanticising all of Asia as an idealised exotic "other" without differentiating much between cultures. Singh is Orientalist, proudly so. She volunteers that she is "Asian" (without specifying that her Asian heritage is Punjabi), and says she prefers the open spirituality of the East to the secular West.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Satele says the artists have talked about Wihaan as if it were pan-Asian rather than specifically Thai. Satele's criticism was sharpened by the false impression left by Wihaan's publicity that spirit houses are specifically Buddhist.

Phra Joe Apagaro, of the Watyarnprateep Buddhist Monastery, which advised on the artwork, told me that spirit houses are not Buddhist, and that he saw Wihaan as a cultural rather than religious artefact.

Singh, a practising Buddhist, has a different understanding from Phra Joe (and Laird): she says spirit houses are not only Buddhist. But, counter to Satele's speculations, Singh genuinely relates to Wihaan as a spiritual object.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Spirit houses (in different designs) are found across South and Southeast Asia so, arguably, Wihaan is culturally inclusive. But the artists do not often explain this. Satele is right that, despite their aims, the artists don't always explain what spirit houses are.

Singh doesn't know whether Wihaan's carved patterns have any particular significance and she told me the work was "made by the Buddhist monks in Kelston". In fact, non-monk Thawee Khampantip built Wihaan and, says Laird, he received the entire artist's fee.

Wihaan raises an excellent point: Auckland's public art needs to be more culturally diverse. But, even if Wihaan helped to meet a spiritual need, some of Satele's criticisms also stick, about the artists' carelessness when discussing Wihaan's cultural meanings. I would love to see these parties debate. The moot: that Orientalism is no longer valid.

Discover more

Entertainment

Janet McAllister: Bright golden future for long awaited Te Uru

07 Nov 11:04 PM
Entertainment

Janet McAllister: Patent acoustics beef up ancient sounds like pure magic

22 Nov 02:36 AM
Opinion

Janet McAllister: Fun ways to weave maths into learning

28 Nov 11:55 PM
Entertainment

Janet McAllister: Publishers and patronisers: Final column festivities

13 Dec 12:00 AM
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Entertainment

Entertainment

'Magic mix': NZ Youth Choir's stunning win at European competition

07 Jul 03:07 AM
Royals

'Deeply saddened': Children’s theatre pioneer dies at 61 after cancer battle

07 Jul 02:49 AM
Entertainment

Building a Lego-cy: The brick-mad Kiwi mums taking on the legends of Lego

07 Jul 02:00 AM

Sponsored: Get your kids involved in your reno

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Entertainment

'Magic mix': NZ Youth Choir's stunning win at European competition

'Magic mix': NZ Youth Choir's stunning win at European competition

07 Jul 03:07 AM

The choir hit a high note in their first European tour since the pandemic.

'Deeply saddened': Children’s theatre pioneer dies at 61 after cancer battle

'Deeply saddened': Children’s theatre pioneer dies at 61 after cancer battle

07 Jul 02:49 AM
Building a Lego-cy: The brick-mad Kiwi mums taking on the legends of Lego

Building a Lego-cy: The brick-mad Kiwi mums taking on the legends of Lego

07 Jul 02:00 AM
'I'm back baby': Lewis Capaldi returns to NZ for two special shows

'I'm back baby': Lewis Capaldi returns to NZ for two special shows

06 Jul 10:00 PM
Sponsored: Why heat pumps make winter cheaper
sponsored

Sponsored: Why heat pumps make winter cheaper

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP