Pania of the Reef (2021)

"Pania was taught in school, a way back then. I won't go into what that meant then, the statue or her, or the links it may have been brewing in the minds of those who commissioned the statue (Hans Christian Anderson marketing hype). But as someone still thinking of the impact that city had on me, I was looking for places on the outside of the Museum where Māori could be seen. Annabelle asked what the outside of the Museum meant and that was a good question - she was asking and talking about why it wasn’t a Māori design? I made a glib retort, “Well maybe Māori’s don't fit with the broader business model”. Maybe it’s not the museum, but the ‘city’ not wanting to alienate those with money - making things seem too Māori might make some people think? And having people think might not be good for business. But in thinking back - and I don’t think that I’m good for business - to the 80’s, 90’s, 00’s there weren't any other totems of Māoriness then - well we didn't see any in the Central City today. Anyway, lots of people paused while we were there to look at Pania. That statue means a lot to a lot of people. Others took photos, so did I. Then I used photogrammetry techniques to make a 3D model. Above is a rough render of the subsequent scan."