Director of the Canoe : The statue of Sir George Grey

Abstract

"Only when it was decapitated, on Waitangi Day 1987, did it attract much attention. Today [1995], as in 1900, artistic assessments of the statue are inseperable from political assessments of Grey. Williamson's sculpture is not strong enough to transcend them. This article will examine the commissioning, production, unveiling and subsequent history of the statue. Originally intended as a tribute to Grey's 'biculturalism' (the term was not, of course, employed in 1900), the work has inevitably assumed different political connotations in what Ranganui Walker has called 'the Maori struggle against Pakeha domination'"