Brett Graham’s Whaowhia, two granite urns, one white and one black, stand sentinel at the south entrance of the Auckland Museum.

Whaowhia are essentially ‘storehouses of knowledge’ or ‘Pataka Matauranga’ and this sculpture reflects the Museum’s role as preserver and protector of the nation’s taonga.

On the surface of each urn are carved motifs, selected in consultation with museum staff to symbolise objects and collections held at the Museum. A candle represents the early Auckland trader John Smith; bird, plant and insect forms represent the important contribution the museum has made to science in New Zealand; the crosses and flame reflect and refer the memorial role of the Museum.

The horizontal lines on each urn suggest that the urns have been split and rebuilt. Brett Graham described them as a metaphor for the Polynesian renaissance, literal cultural reconstruction. The addition of layer upon layer of stone is also symbolic of the Museum’s Maori title ‘Paenga Hira’, referring to the Ngati Whatua practice of marking boundaries with basalt mounds, or of the piling of body upon body of those slain in battle.

The museum’s two functions, that of war memorial and a place of learning are acknowledged by the shaft of light emitting from each urn.