Art Work of the Week – Kāpiti and Coast Independent

The wonderful Helen McIntosh

By Pam Kessler

callig-2455 We are fortunate to have many characters amongst our lively Kapiti Calligraphers group of members and Helen McIntosh is a classic example.

She is out-going, gregarious, loving, kind, and generous and is frequently seen with red, blue, or green coloured hair – an effect, I’ve observed, that is not necessarily done to match her outfit!

The most endearing feature of all, however, must be her quick and ready wit.

How we love her for all the times she has made the perfect comment to lighten the moment!

Inspiration from England and New Zealand

Helen was born and brought up in the North East of England and John Masefield’s poem Cargoes was the stimulation for Helen’s piece for our Sea Fever exhibition.

The Yorkshire Moors, her love of Wuthering Heights and the style of Colin McCahon were all inspirational for her piece shown below, I Am.

callig-i-am

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STORY OF THE WEEK

Kāpiti’s proposed Te Uruhi Gateway at Paraparaumu Beach has been voted through after a day-long debate which include a haka in the District Council chamber and angry protests.

The Kapiti council faced a government deadline for $4.45 million project, with half to come from the Covid Recovery fund.

Vote went 7-4

It wasn’t until after 5.30 pm when the councillors and mayor voted 7-4 to give the go-ahead. The four anti votes came from councillors Jocelyn Prvanov, Gwynn Compton , Martin Halliday and Bernie Randall.

100 Years Ago — and the Maori Long March begins

Māori politics was dominated by the influential MPs (and sometime Cabinet ministers) Māui Pōmare ( Waitara statue photo above) and Apirana Ngata.

The 1920's also saw the rise of Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana’s religious movement, and the emergence of Te Puea Hērangi in Waikato.

Ngata worked hard to foster Māori scholarship and education and preserve traditional arts and culture.

He convinced the government to establish a Board of Maori Ethnological Research (1923), a Maori Purposes Fund Control Board (1924) and a School of Maori Arts and Crafts in Rotorua (1927).

The Reform government also took the first, tentative steps towards settling longstanding Māori grievances.

Agreements with Te Arawa in 1922 and Ngāti Tūwharetoa in 1926 recognised their respective rights over the Rotorua lakes and Lake Taupō, and led to the establishment of trust boards with some government funding.

Commissions of inquiry which examined Ngāi Tahu grievances (1920–21) and the Waikato and Taranaki confiscations (1926–27) recommended that modest compensation be paid.