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
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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
⠀⠀⠀
Artist website: https://mateusbailon.art
⠀⠀⠀
#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









































