"Kō" anga
“Kō” anga - Spring by Eugene Kara. This bronze sculpture consists of seven separate sculptural forms of various sizes and originally stood in the courtyard known as The Tainui Court, so named for the planting of Golden Tainui Trees (Pomaderris apetala) which the area featured. The work was commissioned from a call out for artworks to be designed for the space which was situated between A Block one of the University’s original buildings which housed Te Pua Wānanga ki te Ao, The School of Māori and Pacific Development (now known as The Faculty of Māori and Indigenous Studies) and Te Āhurutanga building, The Office of the Pro Vice‐Chancellor Māori. It was created to welcome students, staff and visitors to a special place of learning. Since its creation the artwork shares this kaupapa with its new environment as The Tainui Court made way for the building of The Pā.
Kara has over 20 years experience as an arts practitioner and advocate nationally and internationally. Mentored in sculpture early on by Lyonel Grant and George Andrews, Kara went on to become a master of bronze casting, even co-founding the first Māori bronze casting studio at The New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute at Te Puia in Rotorua. He has also been active within the education sector, pioneering successful initiatives that advocated for Māori aspirations while meeting the artistic needs of his local community. Kara lead the creation of a MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) between Waiariki Institute of Technology (now known as Toi Ohomai in the Bay of Plenty) and Whitecliffe College (an award winning arts and design school in Auckland). It enabled the Waiariki students to connect with the College’s arts degree via distance learning. This was a first for the region and contributed directly to the growth of the arts in the area.
It would seem breaking new ground is a constant in both Kara’s own life and his work. “Kō” anga emulates the concept of groundbreaking, the task of striving to learn something new, to sow and reap bountiful results.
Kara developed this work to represent the history of the land, the people, the University and our future. Kōanga, which means spring, is a time in the Māori calendar that brings new beginnings. This work is inspired by the gardeners of the past and their aspirations of a sustainable, healthy and prosperous future for the community. Nā tō rourou, nā taku rourou ka ora ai te iwi - With your food basket and my food basket the people will thrive. Each bronze figure derives its form from the elegantly shaped Māori tools that were used for gardening; these were the Ko, Kaheru and Timo, amongst others. These are unique tools used for plowing, planting, weeding and harvesting. Kara finds they encapsulate the ideas of learning and gaining knowledge, providing and forecasting sustainable goals and finally prospering from the fruits of one's labour, and sees it as comparable with a student studying for their future.
A total of seven bronze figures make up the work Koanga, clustered together to represent a unified whanau that shelter and protect the future generation coming through.
The work hopes to inspire and remind our community that through diligence and perseverance, goals of achieving at the highest level can be attained.