Artist: Denis O'Connor, 2005
Location: Viaduct Harbour
Materials: red granite, white granite, stainless steel
Sponsor: Auckland City Sculpture Trust
Interpreted by some as a fish hook, Dennis O'Connor's Raupō Rap has many layers of meaning.
The sweeping curve of the hook circles and enfolds in a gesture that suggests welcome and protection. The artwork is also a symbol of the dockyards and has personal meaning to the artist, whose father worked there and later died on Princes Wharf, not far from the site of this sculpture.
Raupō Rap stands as a bold memorial to the ships, vessels and workers of Auckland's waterfront, as well as all others whose lives are intricately bound up with this particular place.
