Southern Star – Te Tonga Whetu o te Rangi
This star of peace artwork is by Warwick Freeman, New Zealand Arts Foundation Laureate. It is an art object designed to be worn by men and women alike.
Wear it, display it or just keep it somewhere safe in memory of someone special.
The Launch ANZAC 2018 – 100,000 stars ascend
On the eve of ANZAC Day 2018 the walls of the historic St David’s Memorial Church are illuminated by light and sound in a specially-commissioned artwork created by Jeff Smith of Deep Animation. World War One is raging and New Zealanders depart. 100,000 take part, 40,000 are injured, 18,000 die. By 1927, funds have been raised to build St David’s Memorial Church – “The Soldiers’ Memorial Church” “to keep green the courage and faith and sacrifice” of those brave souls. Now, in the centennial year of 1918, 100,000 stars ascend the walls of St David’s. They take the form of the Warwick Freeman Southern Star – Te Tonga Whetu o te Rangi
Like the church building that inspired its creation, every Warwick Freeman star
remembers – connects – and inspires peace
The Art of Remembrance project takes flight once more as the stars begin their journey from the artist’s imagination, across Aotearoa New Zealand beneath the southern skies – and out into the world.
The Handmade Process
Crafted in New Zealand from pure brass, then lacquered, assembled, presented and brought to you by volunteers.
Every star is individually hand-stamped by the artist. With its own identifier code, your star is a unique part of a constellation of remembrance.
Through late Summer 2017 and into Autumn 2018, Warwick Freeman conceived and created Southern Star – Te Tonga Whetu o te Rangi. Warwick developed the design not on a computer, but in the traditional manner, with materials in hand, working and forming the brass, his eye and hands informed by a lifetime of art-making. The star is a signature of Warwick’s practice.
Southern Star – Te Tonga Whetu o te Rangi is at once a star of the southern skies – a poppy – and a gentle cross.
A red heart floats above a softly glowing star of peace.
Warwick Freeman
Warwick Freeman is one of New Zealand’s most celebrated artists. Born in Nelson in 1953, he now lives and works in Auckland. His art is represented in major public and private collections including the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; Powerhouse Museum, Sydney; Auckland War Memorial Museum, Auckland; Dowse Art Museum, Wellington; Danner Stiftung, Munich; the Helen Drutt Collection, Philadelphia; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand, Wellington. The Francoise van den Bosch Foundation, Stedelijk Museum, made him their 2002 Laureate. That same year Warwick was made a lifetime Laureate by the New Zealand Arts Foundation.
-
- Warwick Freeman in his studio. April 2018. Photo by Jeff Smith.
-
- Warwick Freeman in his studio. April 2018. Photo by Jeff Smith.
-
- Warwick Freeman in his studio. April 2018. Photo by Jeff Smith.
