Vibrant community art showcases K Road stories as gentrification looms

Vibrant artwork is adorning Karangahape Road’s public seats and rubbish bins in protest of its looming development and gentrification.

The colourful designs also capture the stories of Auckland’s most eccentric street, including the tale of Horotiu – the Taniwha that is believed to occupy the area, in a collaboration between local art students, the K Road Business Association, Lifewise and art collective Piki toi, dubbed The Harunga Project.

It was in response to the Auckland Council’s ongoing “enhancement” of K Road, which would see the streetscape developed and iconic fixtures removed, said project leader Momoko Burgess.

“They’re pretty much digging up the whole road and making it look like the rest of Auckland,” she said.

“We’re using art to try and encapsulate the history of K Road and be like ‘look, this is here, this is really cool,’ and hopefully get the council to keep them here, because they will be removed within the next year otherwise.”

She said the project also provided an opportunity for young artists to display their talent and for the community to participate in the preservation of what has long been a sanctuary for the marginalised and the homeless.

“We’re for development in a sense but not this kind of development where they don’t have any consideration for what’s going to happen to all these communities that live around here.

“It’s basically going to be one big mass displacement.”

Piki Toi member Tiare said the art project had many benefits for the community.

“We’re trying help people be creative, release. It’s a healing agent.”

His team were painting a design representing the ongoing occupation at Ihumātao across the seats outside St Kevin’s Arcade.

“This is our way of decolonising and hori-fying the city! They can glorify it, we’ll hori-fy it!”

Despite the potential removal of the fixtures, Auckland Council is partly funding the project after Burgess and her colleague Ahlia-Mei Ta'ala lodged a plea explaining the significance of K Road as a tūrangawaewae for marginalised and young people.

In her pitch she referenced the story of the street’s namesake, “Hape”, who was not allowed to board the Tainui waka because he was club footed.

This story, she said, perfectly embodies K Rd communities that have been marginalised elsewhere. “Karangahape Road is the last space of belonging for people who don’t belong.”