Kingsley
Baird

Kereru – a 10-metre high bronze and aluminium kinetic sculpture – is a site-specific public artwork designed for the redevelopment of Tawa Village. The sculpture establishes a metaphorical relationship between the community’s perceived spiritual and economic malaise and the demise of the local native forest and kereru bird population. The rotating wings of the Kereru sculpture are intended to evoke the presence of the bird, which, in turn, signals a rebirth of the tawa forest. The sculpture, therefore, is a symbol for the aspirations of new life and vitality in the village.

The commission also included the design of steel wind screens which incorporated the tawa tree theme and referenced the lace curtains of suburbia.