The pillars of our conference are diversity, inclusivity and cultural respect for the tangata whenua (the original people of the land) and the many peoples and cultures who have made, and continue to make, Aotearoa New Zealand. Diversity and inclusivity are alluded to in the rainbow patterning on the waters of Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland, which also reference Aotearoa’s foundations in the powerful motifs of Māori migration.

Our logo also attempts to capture the meaning of Waipapa Taumata Rau, the name generously gifted to the University of Auckland by Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, the tangata whenua of central Tāmaki Makaurau.

Waipapa refers to the shoreline from which the University takes its name. The great landing place of waka, it marks arrivals, beginnings, and new connections, and an exchange of knowledge and teaching.

 

Taumata are the peaks of ascension, pinnacles of sacred spaces where land meets sky, places of challenge, achievement and revelation.

 

Rau means many or one hundred, referring to the many journeys that communities make.

(Adapted from https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/about-us/about-the-university/waipapa-taumata-rau-university-of-auckland.html)

These journeys are symbolised by the wakas (traditional Māori canoes) off Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland’s shores, as well as by the Pasifika va‘a, which acknowledges the enormous importance of our Pasifika communities in our city and the Asia-Pacific region. To the left of the banner sits the Fale Pasifika, the spiritual home of the University’s Pacific community and the venue for our conference dinner. We acknowledge the enriching influence of our Asian communities in the replication of the CBD’s red-ridged Orient Towers, designed by Ron Sang, a New Zealand architect, art collector, art exhibitor and publisher of New Zealand art books.

The many maunga (mountains) on which Tāmaki Makaurau is built are symbolised by two iconic features in its cityscape. Sheltering and protecting the city is Maungakiekie (One Tree Hill), the most extensively developed Māori pā (village settlement) in Tāmaki Makaurau and one of the largest pre-European archaeological site complexes in Aotearoa. To the right of the banner and rising out of the moana (sea) is Rangitoto, Aotearoa’s youngest volcano.

The seven matariki stars in the sky honour Matariki (the Pleiades), the rising of which in mid winter initiates the Māori New Year, a time of renewal, remembrance and celebration. The frigate birds flying in place represent the Pacific and migration.

Finally, the city’s Harbour Bridge signifies the fruitful meetings and exchanges among different cultures, while the construction cranes suggest a land and its cultures that are always in a dynamic process of restoration, recreation and revitalisation.

Our grateful thanks to Cypress Vivieaere-Davis for creating our banner.