Taniwha - Te Maru Hotene (Canning Place)

Te Maru Hotene is a celebrated local artist. This mural is a collaboration with Ushy Ushy from the Cook Islands, and is about the migration of the waka from the Cooks to the Bay of Plenty and keeping the connection alive between all of us. 

“A lot of my painting practice talks about urban Maori identity and transformations of urban Maori identity. I’m interested in people who are learning their Taha Māori for the first time, people who have been whakama embarrassed or ashamed of it, and who are now engaging with it in a positive way. My painting practice is in a real expressive, loose, gestural kind of style. And so for this mura collaboration my taniwha is be interacting with Ushy Ushy designs.” 

Maru’s graphic, bold and abstract artwork can be seen along the side of the George Street Linen building on Canning Place.

Information courtesy of EPIC Whakatane