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.
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.
Article first published by: Radio New Zealand