A replica of artist Don Driver's iconic mural of Charles Kingsford Smith's trans-Tasman flight. Photo: Stuff / Lisa Burd via Taranaki Daily News
Papa Rererangi i Puketapu / New Plymouth Airport has unveiled a replica of artist Don Driver's iconic mural of Charles Kingsford Smith's trans-Tasman flight outside its award-winning Te Hono terminal.
The original mural was commissioned for New Plymouth Airport in 1966 to commemorate the first-ever passenger-carrying crossing of the Tasman Sea in 1928 by pilot Sir Charles Kingsford Smith in the Southern Cross, a three-engined Fokker F.VIIb/3m aircraft.
It hung in the old terminal until $28 million Te Hono was built in partnership with Puketapu hapū to acknowledge their place as mana whenua and to reflect the unique cultural narrative and heritage of the whenua.
New Plymouth Airport chief executive David Scott said recognising the importance to the Taranaki community of the Don Driver mural, the airport gave the go-ahead for a resin-based replica to be installed outside Te Hono after consulting with councillors, art and conservation experts and the artist's family.
"While the Don Driver was seen as very important artefact from the old terminal, but it just didn't really suit or wasn't really appropriate for the new terminal, so an agreement was made for it to be displayed in another appropriate place and that's why it's located on the outside of the terminal building."
Don Driver Sculpture unveiling at New Plymouth domestic airport. Photo: Stuff / Lisa Burd via Taranaki Daily News
Scott said there had been a lot of feedback that this part of the airport's history continues to be recognised.
"I mean it does recognise the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand, so that is obviously very significant, and it landed in Bell Block as we all know."
He said the replica mural would become a feature at the airport.
"This project is a significant work that not only enhances the landscape of Te Hono but pays homage to a local artist who contributed to our national art narrative. An outdoor setting gives the public the best view of it in the natural light that Don Driver made it for.
"The original is very fragile, but it is being expertly cared for. It could be available for display at other sites in Taranaki if the opportunity arises."
Scott said the total cost of the replica and its installation was considered commercially sensitive.
The airport had the original mural in protective storage.
The six-panel mural, designed to withstand the elements, was unveiled this week, at a ceremony attended by representatives of Puketapu hapū, members of Papa Rererangi i Puketapu and New Plymouth District Council.
Fast facts:
- Don Driver made the mural by hand on very thin sheets of aluminium, each measuring 1.22m by 2.44m.
- Conservator Detlef Klein who oversaw the replica of Cats was commissioned to help work on the Kingsford Smith mural as well. The replica was made by taking a mould of each panel using silicon rubber and then a cast made using an environmentally stable, fibre-reinforced vinyl ester resin. Each panel weighs about 8kg.
- Te Hono, New Plymouth Airport's terminal, has won multiple awards since it opened in March 2020, including:
Two awards in the 2021 NZ Airport Association awards: Medium Airport of the Year, and Medium Infrastructure Project of the Year.
The special prize for an airport exterior in the 2021 Prix Versailles architecture and design awards.