The Gallery & Pouwhenua
The Beach House lobby at Pacific Coast Village features the Mangatawa Gallery - a space that captures the stories of the whenua and its people, providing insight and meaning to the cultural heritage and whakapapa to the ‘whenua’ O Nga Potiki, which the village is built on. The gallery includes a permanent exhibition of portraits and treasured taonga featuring the shell middens and other artefacts from the archaeological excavations that took place as part of the Village development.
A pouwhenua (carved post), created by prominent local artist Kerema Taepa, denotes a story about the hou kainga. It acknowledges the association between the people (tāngata) and the land (whenua). Specifically, it reflects the relationship between the ancestors, environment, and the reputation or standing of the tangata whenua.
The pouwhenua is located at the start 250 metre long beach boardwalk that the Partnership created on Maranui Street opposite the village. The boardwalk has been generously made available for the public to use and appreciate both the rich Maori history of the area and the extensive cultural landscape incorporating Mangatawa, Hikurangi, Kopukairoa and te rohe Kiwa (Pacific Coast), as well as the vegetation of the coastal dune system.
