May 4 - May 28, 2023 The Lost Garden

Welcome to the garden where kōwhai bloom and huia flock, drinking nectar in a secluded wonderland.

This is a land of abundance, a banquet, a world restored; sculpted by Paul Dibble in bronze, with opulent floral showers of gold.

Dibble’s garden recalls a lost paradise; a place where huia frolicked and kōwhai flourished; a time of plenty, when life was simple, and nature was undisturbed by human activity.

Huia and kōwhai are both iconic symbols of myth and reverence. The kōwhai, with its miraculous sudden flowering on leafless branches, is like an act of divine power. One myth has it that the flowering was created by a Māori god as a challenge to win a lover’s hand – Aotearoa’s own Olympian feat.

Huia feathers, stored carefully in waka huia (carved treasure boxes), were once worn as a sign of rank and mana.

But the excitement of beauty can come at a cost. A fascination with huia spurred demand for its carcasses and tail feathers, driving the species to extinction.

Dibble’s recreated paradise, for all its splendour, anticipates this looming loss.

In Huia Sings Alone a single bird perches on a branch sparse of blossom, the base of the sculpture suggestive of an abandoned island.

Gold glitters as bauble and huia balance trophy-like on rings.

For all its beauty, Dibble’s restored garden of plenty is really a solemn statement about greed, mistakes and loss.