Library Assistant Michaella Simpson with medical students Sara Aruquipa Southerwood and Sandra Dondi and Resource Access and Interloans Librarian Jung Cho in the informal study space.
New student study spaces on the Wellington campus have been made more welcoming by the addition of three large photographic wall murals.
The murals feature natural scenes of Porirua Harbour and Whitireia maunga and of Te Iti Kahurangi, the campus’s kākahu cloak. The harbour mural is the largest of the three, measuring seven metres by 2.6 metres.
Health Sciences Librarian Kareen Carter says the two study spaces have been created from internal spaces in Wellington Hospital’s Ward Support Block and have no natural light, so the murals help to “bring the outside in”.
“The harbour and the maunga bring nature into the spaces.”
The images of Whitireia and Te Iti Kahurangi have been placed together in the informal study space reflecting their connection, with the maunga one of the mountains depicted in the tāniko of the kākahu. The triangles on the kākahu represent the maunga of mana whenua from the region, Ngāti Toa, Te Āti Awa and Ngāti Raukawa.
All three photos were taken by campus photographer Luke Pilkinton-Ching. He says the kākahu has particular relevance to the student study spaces given its embodiment of the whakataukī, ‘Whāia te iti kahurangi, ki te tuohu koe, me he maunga teitei/Seek the treasure you value most dearly: if you bow your head, let it be to a lofty mountain’.
“The whakataukī is about aiming high for what is truly valuable, but its real message is to be persistent and not to let obstacles stop you from reaching your goal.
“It’s a fantastic message for a student study space.”
Rautaki Hononga Māori – Māori Strategic Framework Project Manager Toa Waaka says the whakataukī has a deeper meaning too.
“It refers to knowing what we are made of so we can persevere through all obstacles and challenges life presents us with in our pursuit of wisdom, knowledge and enlightenment.”
Kareen says the informal study space has been designed for collaborative work, with soft furnishings to give students a place to relax.
“It provides an area for comfortable, relaxed study and quiet conversation.”
The second of the spaces, where the mural of the Porirua Harbour has been installed, provides a quiet work area, with individual study carrels and student PCs. There is a small meditation room attached where students can meditate, stretch or just zone out.
The two study spaces are used mainly by undergraduate medical, radiation therapy and physiotherapy students, but are also open to post graduate students.
Kareen says she is really pleased with the way the murals have transformed the spaces.
The project has been a collaborative one with assistance from a range of Wellington staff, including both Luke and Toa, the Project Manager/Organisational Delivery, Paula MacLachlan, the Associate Dean Māori, Associate Professor Bridget Robson, and Deputy Health Sciences Librarian Donna Tietjens.
The two rooms complement the study spaces in the adjacent Medical and Health Sciences Library, which relocated to the hospital campus in June.
“We will be in this temporary space for the next five years, so we needed to make sure the students had a decent place to study.
“They’re a great bunch of students. They deserve a good space.”
The murals were made possible with financial support from the Medical Assurance Society.