L a R o s a P a r k D a y L i g h t i n g P r o j e c t
Collaboration with Auckland City Council & Wai Care
Block House Bay, Auckland, Aotearoa (New Zealand)
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Stream day-lighting is the practice of bringing buried pipes to the surface and restoring natural streams in their place. Naturalised streams offer multiple benefits including restored habitats, enhanced stormwater management, and a natural asset for the community to enjoy. The La Rosa Reserve in Green Bay, West Auckland is has been the “flagship” Mayoral stream day-lighting project, showcasing bioengineering techniques for stream restoration, and illustrated how a community can be reconnected with their local stream. Benefits of day-lighting include wild life such as the Long Fin Eel’s to regain its migratory pathways.
Imagine the Land Project was commissioned to collaborate with Wai Care and local communities to deliver arts and environmental workshops and to produce an outdoor impermanent art installation based on the waterway journeys of the Tuna Kuwharuwharu (the long-fin eel). The installation was made in collaboration children and teenagers from Green Bay Schools from a variety of locally sourced materials and pigments from the Waitakere Ranges. The art work metaphorically explore the ancient journey of the Tuna Kuwharuwharu through the water ways of New Zealand and its long journey through to the pacific, then when reaching the final stages of its life, returning to Tonga to spawn and die, thus leaving the next generation to make the long and risky journey to Aotearoa (New Zealand) to continue the cycle.
Through the many collaborative hands of the young participants, the art work celebrated our connection and respect of the land and the sea and the restoration of the waterways on our homeland.