Mural a message for Matariki

A mural called Matariki Messenger is emerging on the northern exterior wall of Forsyth Barr Stadium in Anzac Ave, Dunedin, created by Palmerston North-based artists Ephraim Russell and Mikal Carter, who is also known as SwiftMantis.

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The Dunedin Street Art Charitable Trust organised the mural, which features a native ruru, or morepork, swooping through a celestial scene including the Matariki constellation, as shown in a concept design.

The ruru was known traditionally as a messenger to those who had died and the time of Matariki was to celebrate them, Mr Russell said.

The mural was more than 40m long and about 4m high and this was a nice scale to work at - ‘‘it gives you the opportunity to do something quite wispy, which I like’’.

The mural’s the tā moko patterns referenced Te Whāngai i te Hautapu, the Matariki ceremony where offerings are made to the stars.