Public Sculptures

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Petrocorp Carvings

ENVIRONMENTAL MESSAGES MAKE STRONG PRESENTATION

Artist: Rangi Skipper, Glen Skipper and Te Ru Wharehoka

Molesworth St, outside Petrocorp's building, New Plymouth.

Five rock carvings comprise the group outside Petrocorp's building: Tangaroa, Hine Tangawainu, Pupu and Wai Karanga - plus a mauri.

They were commissioned to mark the opening of Petrocorp's new headquarters in New Plymouth, and were installed in 1993.

Tangaroa (the large round stone) is the god of the ocean. 

Hine Tangawainui (the flat stone) is Tangaroa's partner. Hine Tangawainui also refers to the great deluge in Maori mythology. 

Pupu (the small round stone) is Tangaroa's child. Pupu, or the cat's eye shellfish, is one of the smallest sea animals that Maori eat. 

Wai Karanga (the corner stone, "a call to the water") which points toward and refers to the Wai Karanga Reef in the Sugar Loaf Islands group, where Maori used to bury people of note. 

The fifth stone is a mauri, which encapsulates the spirit of the stones and their meaning, and is buried beneath the soil.

These carvings are symbolic of Petrocorp's involvement in the petrochemical industry (which at the time mostly involved drilling for oil from offshore fields) and the importance of not only the petrochemical resources to the wider community, but also the need to manage the extraction of oil and gas in a manner that isn't detrimental to the environment – in this case, the sea.