On 27 March 2021, the Prime Minister officially unveiled Te Reo Hotunui o Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, a special conch-shaped installation by artist Michel Tuffery MNZM in collaboration with Wellington architect John Melhuish. The artwork “represents New Zealand’s enduring friendship with the Pacific Islands and the service of Pacific Islanders in support of New Zealand in the two World Wars and later conflicts”, Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage reports.

The design was chosen by a judging panel that was put together by the Ministry for Culture and Heritage in a nationwide design competition and features a bronze conch shell that is covered in remembrance poppies. The conch shell has long been a symbolic motif across the pacific islands and this design specifically ”recalls the conch shell left in the Arras Tunnels by Kuki Airani (Cook Island) soldiers of the New Zealand Tunnelling Company and the New Zealand (Māori) Pioneer Battalion, who were stationed beneath the town of Arras during 1916 to 1918”, the Ministry says.

Architect John Melhuish of Wellington firm Herriot Melhuish O’Neill Architects says, “As an architect, working on the memorial has been really interesting — it’s a project most architects wouldn’t anticipate being part of.”

He continues, “…there are some real complexities in realising a sculpture like this, right from the initial competition, to delivering it within budget, manufacturing and transporting from overseas, designing for longevity and, of course, our wind.”

Along with the architects, structural engineers Alistair Cattanach and Adam Thornton from Dunning Thornton were brought in to bring Tuffery’s vision to life. “We worked closely with them to figure out how the memorial would stand and how the material would behave,” Melhuish notes. “The bronze is quite thin but the overall strength comes from structurally connecting the outer shell to the inner one. We were also fortunate to be able to contract LT McGuinness to deal with the complexities of delivery and installation.”

Melhuish says it was very moving to see the whole work come together at the unveiling ceremony. Tuffery spoke at the ceremony, which included music and performance along with speeches from local iwi and the Cook Islands Prime Minister, thanking collaborators and the design selection committee.

Te Reo Hotunui o Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa is the eighth international monument at Wellington’s Pukeahu National War Memorial Park. Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Pae Mahara memorials manager Brodie Stubbs says that these works “act as symbols of our shared experiences of conflict, as well as our enduring friendships and commitment to peace and international cooperation”.

The full unveiling ceremony was live-streamed and is available to watch on the Pukeahu National War Memorial Park Facebook page. Click here for more information about the work on the Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage website.