Super Eight Cultural Festival – Visual Art

The Super Eight Cultural Festival took place recently and was hosted by Rotorua Boys' High School. The Visual Art competition consisted of one junior artwork and one senior artwork from each Super Eight school.

Palmerston North Boys' High School are pleased to announce that we placed 3rd in the Junior category with a woodcut by Tiaki Manu, and 4th in the Senior category with a watercolour painting by Nawid Rahimi. Well done to both the boys involved; an outstanding achievement given the calibre of the work on display.

This is what Tiaki said about his work:
“My woodcut is an exploration of the most primary part of my identity….my name. Tiaki means to care for others and our environment. In my artwork, I chose to use the bee as the natural object to represent myself as the bee is a hard-worker and cooperative. They remind us to focus on goals and to keep working hard.

The forms at the top of the letter ‘T’ represent the strong connection I have to my Maori culture and the weaving together of past, present and future generations who are guardians of the land and environment we live in.

This woodcut has been inspired by New Zealand artist Michel Tuffery and his letter series.”