Carving poses problems

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32701, 2 September 1971, Page 3

Carving poses problems

(N.Z.P A. Correspondent) LONDON, Aug. 31. The massive totara pole carved by the late Inia Te Wiata for the lobby of New Zealand House is expected to be in place before the end of this year.

No time-table has been decided, but engineers are now working on the last problems t associated with its erection. , Because of the engineering ' problems of ensuring that the ! 50ft carving is both stable | and aesthetically pleasing, it , is thought that the cost of i erecting it will exceed 1 $20,000. Apart from some very

minor details—which will probably be left unfinished as a symbolic memorial to Mr Te Wiata—the carving is complete.

Originally it had been proposed that the five 9ft sections of the carving, weighing nearly four tons, would be hung from a metal bracket bolted to the wall of the main lift well. Mr Te Wiata, however, strongly opposed this idea, which, he maintained, would ruin the appearance of the work. Other possibilities were explored, and shortly before Mr Te Wiata died he approved a method whereby the sections were strung on a steel cable, stretching from the roof of the third floor to the ground. Each of the logs will have a hole drilled through , its middle. A major problem has been to find a way of doing this without splitting the logs.

The job has been given to R. Cattle, Ltd, experts in joinery and the restoration of antique woodwork. The drill to be used will remain stationary while the logs are revolved. Each log will take a week to drill, rotating at a speed not much faster than the minute hand of a clock. Another difficulty has been to judge how the totara will react when it is taken from the basement of New Zealand House, where Mr Te Wiata worked on it for five years, to the air-conditioned and heated lobby. Almost all of the logs have quite large cracks, and it is feared that the change in atmospheric conditions will aggravate this problem. “We called in the Timber Development Association, and they have made a very detailed survey of the cores of the logs,” said a spokesman for Scott, Wilson, Kirkpatrick and Partners, the engineering firm which is supervising the work on the carving. “They’ve said that it could take up to five years before the logs finally adopt a stable condition." For this reason it has been important to work out methods of erecting the carving which will allow for “shrinkage” without endangering its stability. A decision whether the

cracks in the logs will be filled will not be made until some time after erection. Some experts feel that the natural state of the carving will be enhanced by the splits, and that there should be no attempt to “tart up” the work, No thought has been given to any special unveiling ceremony for the carving. It had been proposed before Mr Te Wiata’s death that a traditional programme of Maori music featuring Mr Te Wiata, and possibly Kiri Te Kanawa, be performed. Recently there have been suggestions that the Queen Mother is interested in participating in some function. Last year she visited the basement of New Zealand House to look at the carving, and expressed great interest in the details.