Tūhono: A City Walked in Light

Matariki returns to Tāmaki Makaurau each year with a light trail that has grown into something remarkable. Tūhono, meaning "to tie together", now connects with the existing works Tūrama on Queen Street and Taurima on Elliott Street to form a 2km indigenous, immersive art trail. It is being called the longest of its kind in the world.

The walk begins near Myers Park, where Waimahara traces the path of the stream that once ran beneath what is now upper Queen Street. From there the trail moves down through Tūrama, past a carved guardian figure watching over the ancestral river, through flocks of light-formed birds, and into the Strand Arcade, where suspended banners speak to the standing of Māori women through traditional facial markings. It continues to Elliott Street, where Taurima glows beneath the trees, and on towards the water, marking the meeting point of land and sea.

Tūhono itself picks up where Queen Street meets the harbour, and runs along Galway Street through Takutai Square and into Māhuhu ki te Rangi Park, in the city's first dedicated Māori urban precinct. The work is led by a collective of young Ngāti Whātua artists, among them Arama Tamariki-Enua, Caine Taihia, Uira Nahi and Maraea Shaw, in collaboration with Angus Muir Design. It draws on the symbolism of waka, on movement, gathering and the passage of generations, and takes the form of a waka itself, a visual line toward the iwi's ancestral stronghold.

For us at Crane Brothers, with stores on High Street and in Ponsonby, this trail runs almost past our door. Matariki is a season for reflection, and there is something fitting about a city slowing down after dark to walk a path built on stories far older than the buildings around it.

It is also a celebration of the central city itself, and of the work that has gone into making it a more welcoming, exciting place to be. Culture and uniqueness are not things you can manufacture overnight, but walking this trail, it is clear Auckland is building both.

If you are in central Auckland in the next week, take the walk. It runs from Myers Park down to the waterfront. Free, close by, and worth slowing down for.