\u201cFifty years is a significant milestone for any institution, but especially for one so deeply connected to its people and its region,\u201d Laitinen said.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday is not only a celebration of that history. It is also a marker of an important moment for EIT, as we acknowledge our return to independence and the opportunity that brings for our future.\u201d<\/p>\n
She reflected on the vision of EIT\u2019s founding chief executive John Harr\u00e9, who in 1974 championed breaking down barriers to education and expanding opportunities for communities across the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cFifty years later, that same belief in access, inclusion, community and opportunity still sits at the heart of who we are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today, EIT supports more than 11,000 learners across Hawke\u2019s Bay, Tair\u0101whiti, Auckland and international programmes, with education delivered not only on campuses but also in workplaces, marae, orchards, farms and community settings.<\/p>\n
The newly unveiled waka maumahara was designed collaboratively by artists Chris Bryant-Toi and Manuel Dunn and blessed by Professor Joe Te Rito.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis waka maumahara forms a p\u016btahi whereby other EIT campus locations radiate outwards and inwards from the centre,\u201d Bryant-Toi said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn honour of Taka Walker, we wanted to make sure that we maintain his figurative carving style and distinctive p\u016bhoro k\u014dwhaiwhai design as painted on Te Waka Tapu o Tamatea Arikinui.\u201d<\/p>\n
Executive director M\u0101ori Robin Fabish said the carving carried deep cultural symbolism.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe carving includes M\u0101ui and Kiwa. M\u0101ui links us to the name of our institution and the deeds that M\u0101ui is famous for,\u201d Fabish said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe carving is full of meaning and symbolism and we are so fortunate to have it anchor us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cFifty years is a significant milestone for any institution, but especially for one so deeply connected to its…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":456536,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[13212,442,498,499,500,1561,501,2637,156,1976,22638,231991,111,139,69,2194,49756,102,1530],"class_list":["post-456535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-13212","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-bay","tag-design","tag-eit","tag-entertainment","tag-hawkes","tag-marks","tag-maumahara","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sculpture","tag-waka","tag-with","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=456535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/456536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=456535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=456535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=456535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}