Two new elements have been added to the original pillars and banners, including a circular design on the ceiling and one outside the entrance of the flats.
The updated mural theme features Te Wheke a Muturangi, the Octopus, an important figure in Te Atiawa migration stories, and a central element in the Māori health model developed by Dr Rose Pere (Tūhoe, Ngāti Ruapani and Ngāti Kahungunu), a revered Māori leader renowned within academia and te ao Māori for her spiritual teachings and ancient wisdom.
The commission provided an opportunity to look back and forward to the future, ‘Ka Mua Ka Muri’, says Leiataua.
"It is a piece that depicts the journey of a vibrant community made up of many cultures that call Newtown home. It has been over twenty years since I first painted the original mural and through that time technology has developed.
"The final design has been created into a digital format in a collaboration with fellow artist, Ernest Sami. This medium stretches the understanding of traditional Samoan Siapo as being only produced from organic origins. I wanted to show also in this Siapo a narrative of now, celebrating the past, and the journey toward the future of infinite wisdom'.”
The new concept was encapsulated by Dr Rose Pere in the book ‘Te Wheke: A Celebration of Infinite Wisdom’.