Whare Taonga at Takahanga Marae

We worked on:

Exhibition Design, Interpretation Design, Spacial Design, Graphic Design.

On 14th November 2016, Kaikōura experienced a 7.8M earthquake that lifted the seabed metres out of the ocean, resulting in the unearthing of hundreds of taonga tūturu from archaeological sites along the coastline, some over 800 yrs old.

This purpose built Whare Taonga at Takahanga Marae, one of only two in Aotearoa at the time of completion, is now home to over 400 taonga and artefacts discovered by cultural monitors during the repair of the State Highway 1 coastal transport corridor.

Symbolic of the strong relationship that developed between Te Rūnanga o Kaikōura and Crown agencies during the regions recovery and rebuild, the taonga was brought back to its rightful home at Takahanga Marae.

With the support of Te Papa Tongawera, this whare houses a growing collection of repatriated taonga, ranging from atua, personal adornments, industrial moa bone, pounamu and argillite toki, everyday tools for fishing, working textiles and making fishing nets.

Flanked by her sisters Moruka, an archeological research lab and Rakaitekura, an archival storage facility, Waipuhi is primarily a place for manawhenua to connect with their whakapapa.