Mastodawn

By New Zealand artist Mike Te Paea, with Bryce and Troup and other students at Northern Health School, 96 Walton School, Whangārei 0110, New Zealand in December 2024. Photos taken February 2025. Thanks to @streetartcities app for leading me to Whangārei.
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"The Northland Unit has been very lucky to have a special taonga (treasure) painted on the wall by our driveway in Whangarei. Our ākonga (students) had the opportunity to be involved, with sessions with the artist Mike Te Paea, to produce the manu (bird panels) that are bolted to the mural. One student, Troup, was also involved with the painting of the forest.
The mural depicts a golden tree, which represents the innate potential of each of our ākonga. When we can identify and cherish that potential, our ākonga (students) will fly. The manu (bird panels) represent the guardians of the ngāhere (forest)." @northernhealthschoolnz December 6, 2024
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#aerosol #Aotearoa #artinschool #birdart #collab #educationnz #globalstreetart #graffitimural #hospitalschool #insearchofstreetart #inspiration #jj_urbanart #mural #muralart #newzealand #newzealandartist #northernhealthschool #nzschool #publicart #sprayart #streetart #streetart_daily #streetartist #streetartphotography #streetartworldwide #taonga #treeart #urbanart #wallart #whangarei

Mike Franks 2d ago

Manaia by Brazilian artist Mateus Bailon @mateusbailon at Butter Factory Lane, Whangārei 0110, New Zealand in February 2019 for Street Prints Manaia, International Art Festival @street_prints which had the theme “Weaving the Thread of Humanity.” Photos taken February 2025. Thanks to @streetartcities app for leading me to Whangārei.
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"Our culture is what keep us connected not only with the ones around us but also with our ancestors and ours descendants to come. And with this in mind it made sense to me to respectfully create my version of a strong Māori symbol directly related to ancestry and heritage. The Manaia.
Te Manaia is regarded as a kind deity that protects people and helps them communicate with their ancestors. It's regarded as a mythical being with a bird's head (sky), a body of a man or snake (earth) and the tail of a fish (sea), symbolizing the balance between the realms.
I depicted the Manaia in side profile as it's usually depicted in traditional carving and jewelry symbolizing its role as messenger between the earthly world of mortals and the domains of the spirits, and between ancestors and descendants." @mateusbailon Feb 20, 2019
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Artist website: https://mateusbailon.art
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#aerosol #Aotearoa #brazilianartist #globalstreetart #graffiti #graffitiart #graffitimural #insearchofstreetart #jj_urbanart #manaia #mural #muralart #newzealand #publicart #sprayart #streetart #streetart_daily #streetartist #streetartnz #streetartphotography #streetartworldwide #streetprints #streetprintsmanaia #tuia250 #tuia250encounters #tuiatemukatangata #urbanart #wallart #whangarei #whangareicouncil

Mike Franks 3d ago

By New Zealand artists Swiftmantis @swiftmantis and Ephraim Russell @ephraimrussell at 5 John Street, Whangārei 0110, New Zealand in February 2019 for Street Prints Manaia, International Art Festival @street_prints which had the theme “Tui ate muka Tangata – Weaving the Thread of Humanity.” Photos taken February 2025. Thanks to @streetartcities app for leading me to Whangārei.
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'Swiftmantis commented: "From the start, we really wanted a photographic depth-of-field look in our rendering, so the focal points are sharply detailed while the out of focus area are more blurry and soft. We started the concept by photographing everything ourselves. We photographed the kitten and weta from an upward angle so when we scale them up to the size of a 9-metre wall it really looks like they're looking down on you from street-view. These two creatures are unusual companions and reflect the unusual relationships we encounter in life. The unexpected friends we meet along the way that challenge and change our paths, and together help weave the threads of our future. This idea is often embellished in many cinematic motifs, and since the mural is painted on the Whangarei Cinema, we thought it would be fitting to encapsulate the whole freeze frame moment with a film-reel border."' @swiftmantis
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'Weta - They are giant flightless crickets, and some are among the heaviest insects in the world. ... Wētā is a loanword Māori-language word wētā, which refers to this whole group of large insects... The form with macrons (wētā) is increasingly common in formal writing, as the Māori word weta (without macrons) instead means "excrement".' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wētā
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Artist website: https://swiftmantis.com and https://facebook.com/ephraimrussell
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#aerosol #Aotearoa #cat #collaboration #globalstreetart #graffiti #graffitiart #graffitimural #insearchofstreetart #insect #jj_urbanart #kitten #mural #muralart #newzealand #newzealandartist #publicart #sprayart #streetart #streetart

Mike Franks 4d ago

Kotahi/Uno by Mexican artist Paola Delfín @paola_delfin at 88 Robert Street, Whangārei 0110, New Zealand in February 2019 for Street Prints Manaia, International Art Festival @street_prints which had the theme “Tui ate muka Tangata – Weaving the Thread of Humanity.” Photos taken February 2025. Thanks to @streetartcities app for leading me to Whangārei.
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'I had the great pleasure to share some time in this beautiful country and be part of this experience, taking place in Whangarei, home of Ngatiwai "descendants of the sea" and descendants of Manaia, more than 1000 years ago they navigated the oceans coming from Hawaiki niu and also from the Americas as many Maori tribes believe, arriving in Aotearoa in "Māhuhu-ki-te-rangi their Iwi's Waka.
They shared with us their beliefs , reminding us the importance of honoring the past, our ancestors, those who built the events that made us who we are, and gave us a heritage, to also remember that no matter where we come from, in the end, we are all connected, we have always been.' @paola_delfin Feb 18, 2019
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"For me, I really chose to be a muralist, like a public artist because I really like to engage with people. I really like to explore new things." - 2023 video interview (1m16s) https://youtu.be/Plx3NVMJIoU?si=0gMTrEdcJn2w8qW7
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Artist website: https://leofy.io/es/author/paola-delfin
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#aerosol #Aotearoa #arteurbano #fewandfarwomen #globalstreetart #graffiti #graffitiart #graffitimural #insearchofstreetart #jj_urbanart #mexicanmuralist #mexico🇲🇽 #mural #muralart #muralismo #newzealand #paola_delfin #portrait #portraitmural #publicart #sprayart #streetart #streetart_daily #streetartist #streetartphotography #streetartworldwide #urbanart #wallart #whangarei #womenwhopaint

Mike Franks 5d ago

Kotahitanga – Unity by New Zealand artist Earnest Bradley aka Tawck GBAK @tawck_gbak at 70 John Street, Whangārei 0110, New Zealand in February 2019 for Street Prints Manaia, International Art Festival @street_prints. Photos taken February 2025. Thanks to @streetartcities app for leading me to Whangārei.
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"Kotahitanga is a Maori term which means togetherness. It emphasises the concept of unity and working together to achieve common goals." @streetartcities
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Artist website https://tawckgbak.com
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#aerosol #Aotearoa #beauty #contemporaryart #explorenewzealand #globalstreetart #graffitiart #insearchofstreetart #jj_urbanart #maori #memorylanetattoo #mokofusion #muralart #newzealand #newzealandartist #portrait #publicart #sprayart #streetart #streetart_daily #streetarteveryday #streetarteverywhere #streetartist #streetartphotography #streetartworldwide #urbanaesthetics #urbanart #wallart #whangarei #whangareistreetart

Mike Franks 6d ago

By New Zealand artist Earnest Bradley aka Tawck GBAK @tawck_gbak at 73 Walton Street, Whangārei 0110, New Zealand in October 2020. Photos taken February 2025. Thanks to @streetartcities app for leading me to Whangārei.
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"Managed to squeeze in one last mural of the bro’s daughter before departing Whangarei." @@tawck_gbak October 11, 2020
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Artist website https://tawckgbak.com
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#aerosol #Aotearoa #beauty #contemporaryart #explorenewzealand #globalstreetart #graffitiart #insearchofstreetart #jj_urbanart #maori #memorylanetattoo #mokofusion #muralart #newzealand #newzealandartist #portrait #publicart #sprayart #streetart #streetart_daily #streetarteveryday #streetarteverywhere #streetartist #streetartphotography #streetartworldwide #urbanaesthetics #urbanart #wallart #whangarei #whangareistreetart

Mike Franks Oct 29

Selenaia by Irish artist FIN DAC @findac at 5 Hannah Street, Whangārei 0110, New Zealand in January 2019 for Street Prints Manaia, International Art Festival @street_prints. Photos taken February 2025. Thanks to @streetartcities app for leading me to Whangārei.
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"‘Selenaia’ was my take on the #streetprintsmanaia theme ‘weaving the threads of humanity’. A split image highlighting the dual ethnicity of model Selena Bellingham. Her clothing and adornments reflect both her Maori and Filipino heritage as well as the attributes associated with them." @findac Jan. 31, 2019
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"I didn’t have an artistic background. My life and how it had gone wrong was what drove me to be an artist but it never influenced the content of my work.... I leave it up to the viewer to get whatever they want from my work by deliberately being ambiguous about its content."
https://www.tmoua.org/fin-dac-street-art-interview
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"The artwork you're most proud of? Not specifically an artwork, but actually just being an artist. Because I started very late in life and just becoming an artist was an achievement in itself. (He was 41 when he did his first wall.)
2020 video interview (6m6s) https://youtu.be/n8R7ZUZ9nrU
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Artist website https://findac.tumblr.com
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#acrylic #Aotearoa #beauty #contemporaryart #ethnicbeauty #explorenewzealand #FinDAC #globalstreetart #graffitiart #insearchofstreetart #irishartist #jj_urbanart #muralart #newzealand #portrait #publicart #sprayart #streetart #streetart_daily #streetarteveryday #streetarteverywhere #streetartist #streetartphotography #streetartworldwide #streetphotography #urbanaesthetics #urbanart #wallart #whangarei

Mike Franks Oct 28

Hongi - The breath of life by Italian artist Francesco Camillo Giorgino aka Millo @_millo_ at 105 Cameron Street, Whangārei 0110, New Zealand in October 2019 for Street Prints Manaia, International Art Festival @street_prints. Photos taken February 2025. Thanks to @streetartcities app for leading me to Whangārei.
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'Hongi - The breath of life - I painted this mural for Street Print Manaia Festival.
HONGI is the traditional Māori greeting in New Zealand. It is done by pressing one’s nose and forehead (at the same time) to another person at an encounter.
During the hongi, the “ha”, or breath of life is exchanged and intermingled.
The breath of life is also considered the sharing of both parties’ souls.
Through the exchange of this physical greeting, one is no longer considered “manuhiri” visitor, but rather “tangata whenua, one of the people of the land.' @_millo_
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Artist website: https://millo.biz
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#aerosol #Aotearoa #breathoflife #contemporaryart #explorenewzealand #globalstreetart #graffitiart #ha #hongi #insearchofstreetart #italianartist #jj_urbanart #millo #milloland #mural #muralart #newzealand #publicart #sprayart #streetart #streetart_daily #streetarteveryday #streetarteverywhere #streetartist #streetartphotography #streetartworldwide #streetprintsmanaia #urbanart #wallart #whangarei

Mike Franks Oct 27

"From the mountains to the sea" by New Zealand artists Janine Williams and Charles Williams @charlesjaninewilliams at Wynyard Quarter’s pump station in Amey Daldy Park, 31 Daldy Street, Auckland CBD, Auckland 1010, New Zealand in August 2021. Photos taken February 2025. Thanks to @streetartcities app for leading me here.
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'The placement and colour selection of the design reflects the natural habitat of the chosen birdlife (in consultation with mana whenua) while showing the comparisons of their physical size.”
...
The birds included in the mural are:

Kuaka - Bar-tailed godwit
Karuhiruhi / Kawau - Pied shag
Tarāpuka - Black-billed gull
Pakahā - Fluttering shearwater
Kāka
Warou - Welcome swallow
Kōkako - Blue-wattled crow
Korimako - Bellbird
Pūkeko - Purple swamphen
Karoro - Southern black-backed gull
Tōrea - Oyster catcher
Tuturiwhatu – Dotterel'
https://ourauckland.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/news/2021/08/a-new-mural-in-wynyard-quarter-celebrates-our-native-birds/
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Artist website: https://charlesjaninewilliams.com
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#aerosol #ameydaldypark #Aotearoa #birdgang #commissionart #contemporaryart #explorenewzealand #fewandfarwomen #globalstreetart #graffitiart #insearchofstreetart #jj_urbanart #manumāori #mural #muralart #nativebirds #newzealand #newzealandartist #publicart #sprayart #streetart #streetart_daily #streetarteveryday #streetarteverywhere #streetartist #streetartphotography #streetartworldwide #urbanart #wallart #womenwhopaint