A wonderful new mural on the bunker outside the Art Gallery depicts Māori goddesses/atua wāhine. It’s the work of Kāi Tahu artist Xoë Hall, for whom these Goddesses are super badass ancestors.
Hine-tītama is the flashing red dawn, who becomes Hine-nui-te-pō, the atua of night and receiver of souls in the afterlife.
Mahuika, atua of fire, appears with her flaming manicure, shining a light on the past, while being a torch for the future.
The trickster Māui is shown in lizard form, referencing the time he tried to crawl through Hine-nui-te-pō to reverse the cycle of death and she awoke, slamming her thighs shut on that idea, and therefore bringing mortality to all mankind.
The Goddesses are given form
with colours that are bright and warm
Ruth's Reflections 
Tumeke! I must take a look today.
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Definitely worth a look.
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That’s very a very different type of Maori art than what I’m used to seeing. I like it.
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I do too. Great to have it out there on Montreal Street.
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