Ahi Tupuna, a vibrant mural by Julie Paama-Pengelly at Mercury Baypark Arena, honours the spirit of teamwork and the legacy of the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic’s 2012 netball triumph, celebrating the mana of wāhine and the collective strength that fuels sporting success.
Through its depiction of the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic’s 2012 Trans-Tasman Netball League, the mural celebrates the leadership and mana of women and the unique Māori concept of whanaungatanga [belonging]. The work marks a continuation of artist Julie Paama-Pengelly’s long association with Tauranga’s local premiership netball team, now known as the AVIS Magic, which has been wearing uniforms featuring her designs since 2012.
The team aligns itself with the Māori deity Mahuika, whose fingertips brought fire to the world. Mahuika embodies the team’s chosen identifiers – heart, power, and magic. In 2023, Paama-Pengelly reworked the team uniforms to fulfil Māori interpretation of yellow flames, a rising star, blue waters, and the red heart which sits over the wearer’s womb.
The mural features these same colours, which will be immediately identifiable to any AVIS Magic supporter.
“The mural is meant to embody the euphoria of victory, in the moment when the energy culminates in success,” Paama-Pengelly says. The mural is situated opposite the Magic’s team room at Mercury Baypark Arena, and is adjacent to the courts which the AVIS Magic call home.
“We want anyone playing sport here to walk out and feel inspired when they see the arms and trophy raised in triumph,” Paama-Pengelly says.
A former netballer herself, playing goal attack as a Wairarapa representative in her youth, Paama-Pengelly passed on a passion for the game to her daughter. She knows first-hand how important the comradeship and team values are to instilling confidence in wāhine Māori, and she feels enduring pride in the sporting prowess of the Magic.
“I remember this night, this scene, and the elation in that moment when they won. I’ve focused on that energy as pulses of colour, as the culmination of human effort through time.”
Former CEO Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic, Sheryl Dawson, says the image of Mahuika has always supported the team to bring the heart, power, and magic required to get them across the line together.
“Julie’s mural not only captures a very special moment for Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic but also provides an exceptional inspiration for the future - the all-embracing power and strength in working together.”
The mural was painted in May, using a range of paint techniques. Paama-Pengelly’s daughter Kaiwhetu Kipa painted alongside her. The mural went through three major redesigns and around 150 hours of preparatory work by hand and computer.
Paama-Pengelly’s homage to teamwork was one of six murals commissioned by Tauranga City Council through the Hine te Hiringa fund, a Department of Internal Affairs grant. The fund was a FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ legacy project, established with the aim of celebrating and empowering women in sport, arts, and community.
Tasked with celebrating an iconic Tauranga woman, Paama-Pengelly chose to instead feature the power of teamwork within the Bay’s home netball team.
“I wanted to link the notions of Māori success to a community of women, rather than one.”
No players are fully identifiable in the mural – though many may take a shot at guessing who’s who, given the team at that time included some of New Zealand’s most famous sportspeople. Current Magic player Erena Mikaere was part of the iconic 2012 moment depicted in the mural. Her ongoing netball achievements have been marked by Paama-Pengelly through another discipline - tā moko, or Māori tattoo - and are visible down the length of her legs.
Taking a graphic approach to the mural commission, Paama-Pengelly says the block colour values of the mural reference the importance of history and legacy to Māori. The effect is that individuals blend into colour energies and shapes that move as though atoms with simultaneous energy.
“I really wanted to challenge the idea of individual success. For Māori, a team that holds strong whānau values will be successful in strengthening its members,” Paama-Pengelly says.
“All of that work that goes into building character as a whānau, the work shows this power.”
Photos by Anne Shirley
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