Te Wheke

BUILD

Te Wheke o Muturangi is a striking 15-metre diameter inflatable octopus, created for the Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts 2022 in Wellington. It is the centerpiece of the new installation by Lisa Reihana (Ngāpuhi-Ngāti Hine, Ngāi Tū-Te Auru), which honors and expands on the story of legendary Polynesian explorer Kupe through six outdoor works along the Wellington harbor. The walkable waterfront installation, Kura Moana, features playful bespoke inflatable sculptures, music, video projections and augmented pieces, all created specifically for the festival.  Fabric Structures took on the challenge of custom-designing and fabricating the octopus from the client’s 3D model, with the project requiring meticulous attention to detail. Over two months, our team crafted more than 1,000 individual pattern pieces, hand-stitching them into the final form of Te Wheke. The design complexity was compounded by the organic, non-repetitive nature of the model, the limited fabric availability, and the narrow roll width. We efficiently minimized fabric use by reducing the number of baffles and strategically cutting the pieces to limit waste.

The result was a remarkably accurate physical representation of the client’s model, allowing the artist to paint a pattern that aligned perfectly with their vision. The octopus was well-balanced and integrated seamlessly with the client’s pontoon system. Te Wheke o Muturangi was a much-admired part of Kura Moana, which focused on the importance of Te Moananui-a-Kiwa (the Pacific Ocean) in connecting Aotearoa with its Pacific neighbours.

This large-scale, intricate project highlighted the creative potential of inflatable art and was a testament to the innovative problem-solving required to bring such a vision to life. Special thanks to Assembly Ltd, Warwick Bell, and the Aotearoa New Zealand Arts Festival for their collaboration on this awe-inspiring installation.