Challenge to Seek Knowledge

Te Ao Hou, June 1964, Page 31

Challenge to Seek Knowledge The memorial statue, which is eight feet high, is designed to act as a challenge to Maori youth to seek after education and knowledge. In his right hand—the hand with which a man usually fights—the figure holds a kit; it is the kit of the knowledge of the arts of peace, one of the three kits that Tane, having ascended to the uppermost of the heavens, brought back to earth for the benefit of man. In his left hand the figure holds a mere, symbolizing his Maoritanga. As the concrete statue (which is painted a dark brown) stands beside the elaborate carvings of the meetinghouse, it was decided that as a contrast the statue's form would be a simple one. The face is featureless, partly for this reason and partly because in this way, the universality of the figure becomes apparent.