Archive Display | Te Ara Mārama | The Path of Light

‘He operates in light, he is acknowledged in light, seen in light, possessed in light, made beautiful by light.’
— Reuben Paterson

Grounded in light, Guide Kaiārahi is a phantom waka made of 595 shimmering crystals. Reuben Paterson (born 1973, Ngāti Rangitihi, Ngāi Tūhoe, Tūhourangi) created this sculpture to honour his tīpuna, inspired by the cultural narrative connected to the Mount Tarawera eruption.

Paterson has whakapapa to Ngāti Rangitihi who were displaced by the eruption and later resettled in Matatā, where Paterson’s whānau continue to live today. Imbued with mauri, Guide Kaiārahi embodies this whakapapa while also acting as a celestial guide. The work’s vertical form navigates a journey from Papatūānuku into the embrace of Ranginui, while the crystals reflect and refract light to create a galaxy of navigational stars.

On the 136th anniversary of the eruption, Guide Kaiārahi arrived at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki for installation on the forecourt.

THE TARAWERA ERUPTION

Eleven days before the eruption of Mount Tarawera in 1886, local kaiārahi Te Paea Hinerangi, known as Guide Sophia, led an excursion on Lake Tarawera to the world-famous Pink and White Terraces. The group sighted what they described as a phantom waka taua (war canoe) and thought it an omen of danger. This premonition proved true when Mount Tarawera later erupted, killing 150 people, displacing local hapū, and destroying the terraces and surrounding villages.

GUIDE KAIĀRAHI WHAKAPAPA

This display draws on Reuben Paterson’s digital archive and the Gallery’s records to trace the whakapapa of Guide Kaiārahi. Preparatory research sits alongside plans, fabrication images and installation details, revealing how the work embodies both ancestral knowledge and contemporary practice.

These items speak to traditions of waka building, narratives of navigation and migration, and connections to place. They link the whenua of Tarawera with the whenua at Toi o Tāmaki, where Guide Kaiārahi acknowledges the Horotiu Stream flowing beneath Queen Street. Paterson has whakapapa to Ngāti Rangitihi (Te Arawa) waka, which brought his people to Tīkapa Moana and Tāmaki Makaurau, in a respectful relationship of mauri tuku iho.

At the heart of the display, crystals illuminate the case, connecting the story of the phantom waka with the mana and mauri carried by Guide Kaiārahi.

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‘Ka mahi ia i te aho, ka mihia ia i te aho, ka kitea i te aho, ka riro i te aho, ka whakaātaahua i te aho.’
— Reuben Paterson

Ko te aho te tūapapa o Guide Kaiārahi, he waka mariko kua waihanga ki ngā tioata kānapanapa 595. Nā Reuben Paterson (1973, Ngāti Rangitihi, Ngāi Tūhoe, Tūhourangi) tēnei tārai i waihanga hei whakanui i ōna tīpuna, ā, i ahu mai i ngā kōrero tuku iho mō te hūnga puia o Tarawera.

He hononga whakapapa tō Paterson ki Ngāti Rangitihi, nā te hūnga puia rātou i pei ai, ā, i muri mai ka whakanoho ki Matatā, ki reira noho tonu ai tōna whānau. I whaona ki te mauri, ko Guide Kaiārahi e whakatinanahia ana tēnei whakapapa, ā, e noho hoki ana hei kaiārahi. Ko tōna āhua poutū e whakatere ana i te rerenga mai i a Papatūānuku ki te uma o Ranginui. Ko ngā tioata e whakaata ana, e whakahakoko ana i te rama kia kite i te ikarangi o ngā whetū ārahi.

I te huringa tau 136 o te hūnga puia, i tae mai a Guide Kaiārahi ki Toi o Tāmaki hei whakatū ki runga i te papa ātea.

TE HŪNGA O TARAWERA

Tekau mā tahi ngā rā i mua i te hūnga o Tarawera i te tau 1886, ko Te Paea Hinerangi, he kaiārahi o te rohe e mōhiotia ana ko Guide Sophia, nāna tētahi ope i ārahi i runga i te roto o Tarawera ki Ōtūkapuarangi me Te Tarata. I kite te rōpū i tētahi waka taua mariko, me te whakaaro, he tohu aituā. I pono taua ohiti takamua i te hūnga o Tarawera, ā, i mate te 150 tāngata, i peia ngā hapū, i ukuuku hoki ngā wāhi o Ōtūkapuarangi, o Te Tarata me ngā pā i reira.

TE WHAKAPAPA O GUIDE KAIĀRAHI

I hua mai tēnei whakaaturanga i te pūranga matihiko a Reuben Paterson me ngā pūranga kōrero o Toi o Tāmaki, hei whai i te whakapapa o Guide Kaiārahi. He rangahau tīmatanga, he mahere, he whakaahua hanganga, he kōrero mō te whakatūnga e noho tahi ana kia kite i te whakatinanatanga o ngā kōrero tuku iho me ngā āhuatanga o nāianei anō hoki.

E kōrero ana ēnei taonga mō ngā tikanga hanga waka, ngā kōrero o te whakatere me te hekenga, me ngā hononga ki te wāhi. Ka honoa te whenua o Tarawera ki te whenua o Toi o Tāmaki, ā, ki reira mihi atu ai a Guide Kaiārahi ki Te Horotiu, e rere ana i raro i Queen Street. He hononga whakapapa tō Paterson ki te waka o Te Arawa, i kawea ōna tīpuna ki te moana o Tīkapa, ki Tāmaki Makaurau i roto i ngā whanaungatanga e rongo tonu nei i te mauri.

Kei waengapū, e tūramatia ana te whakaatūranga e nga tioata, hei tūhono i ngā kōrero o te waka mariko ki te mauri me mana o Guide Kaiārahi.

Image credit: Reuben Paterson, Guide Kaiārahi, 2021. Edmiston Trust Collection, commissioned by Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, 2021.