Moai

Title of artwork: Moai

Artist: Tebo/Tevo Pakarati

Date: 2003

Category of work: sculpture

Media: stone

Where you can see it: at the eastern end of the Engineering Extensions Building (Health Technology Centre)

Thanks to: The Embassy of Chile, Christchurch City Council 

This early 21^st century sculpture is a three-metre tall replica of the famous historical sculptures on Rapa Nui.

The work was a gift to the City of Christchurch from Chilean Ambassador Carlos Appelgren Balbontin to mark 30 years of bilateral relations between Chile and New Zealand. It was officially unveiled at The Arts Centre on 2 September 2003 and stood at the edge of Market Square near the Dux de Lux until the Canterbury Earthquakes 2010-11.

In 2002, the official Chilean National Day festivities (18 September) were celebrated in Christchurch for the first time outside Wellington as part of a week of Chilean New Zealand events. During that week the Rapa Nui sculptor Tevo Pakarati (referred to as ‘Tebo’ in news reports at the time) began carving “Moai”. The goal was to create a gift to the city that would be an emblem of the links between the two countries.

After the earthquakes, the sculpture was held in secure storage for 14 years. It was reinstated in 2025, facing east towards Rapa Nui.