NZ Visual Diary - entry 229
strength and despair - Te Komititanga Square
The bronze sculpture of a Māori warrior by artist Molly Macalister stands proudly near the northern boundary of the Te Komititanga Square, which serves as the public plaza to the Britomart Transport Centre.
The sculpture standing sentinel in the square is celebrated in an insightful narrative on the Auckland Council’s website:
A Māori Figure in a Kaitaka Cloak appears as a traditional bronze sculpture, but when artist Molly Macalister created the monumental image of dignity in 1964-1966, she sent revolutionary ripples through public art commissioning in Auckland.
The warrior is clad in the prestigious cloak of a chief. He gazes towards the horizon and holds a mere, a symbol of peace, at his side.
A pivotal work that demonstrates changing attitudes of the 1960s, A Māori Figure in a Kaitaka Cloak was the first public sculpture in New Zealand to be commissioned from a female artist. Macalister's design met with considerable controversy, many arguing for a more stereotypical tourist image of a Māori warrior in a fighting pose. 1
I ask the viewer of this entry to feel and consider thoughtfully a biting irony, indeed the cruelty, of the tension in the entry’s image: a warrior of commanding strength and serene stature and the hunched man - head downcast, body broken and wrapped in a cloak of indignity.
Auckland Council website: A Māori Figure in a Kaitaka Cloak
<https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/arts-culture-heritage/arts/public-art-waterfront/Pages/maori-figure-in-kaitiaki-cloak.aspx>