Last carved pole ready for library

A pou representing a group whose blood flows deeply through Northland's veins will be installed outside Whangarei Library tomorrow.
The final of the 10 carved poles, or pou, denoting the region's people belongs to those variously called Yugoslavs, Dalmatians or "the Austrians" - after the geo-political empire of the time.
Many thousands left today's Croatia and Serbia from the early 19th Century for Northland's gumfields in migration that lasted about 70 years.
Northland artist David Sarich, grandson of a 16-year-old Croatian boy who came to New Zealand in the early 1900s, has carved and painted the totara pou.
The piece represents the environment those pioneers left, life in a strange new land, and the culture they gifted their descendants. It also speaks of a meeting of cultures.
As well as beckoning Mr Sarich into the world of his forebears, the pou took him on an artistic journey, he said. As a painter, sculptor and "constructor" of art who has often worked on three-dimensional projects, this was his first work combining all those mediums.
The painted decorative element belonged to the ancient art of European, Egyptian and other cultures as well as Maori - and was something he, as primarily a painter, felt he had to do, Mr Sarich said.
His public art ranges from the carved wall at Whangarei's Quarry Art Centre to an installation at Dunedin Police Station.
"But in terms of public work this is a major one for me. I build things all the time but as for working with wood along these lines, this was an exploration.
"I was very humbled and excited to be asked to do this. What it did was continue a process of me investigating my heritage.
"My work is often quite figurative and works at a level of myth and spirit and landscape.
"There's a lot of iconography in here ... it will be quite recognisable."
The pou took Mr Sarich 800 hours over 10 months. Whangarei District Council staff planned its installation to coincide with the Northland Kauri Festival. The pou will be erected tomorrow and officially unveiled on Saturday.