‘Ki te kore nga putake e makukungia e kore te rakau e tupu’
If the roots of the tree are not watered the tree will never grow.
This artwork was a collaboration between Bill Ranginui & Jade Ormsby,
wholly inspired by the great Kauri god of the forest Tane Mahuta
Tane Mahuta grows out of the earth towards the sky. The great god of the forest shelters the creatures within his canopy, and like Tane Mahuta, we look to the great and enduring structure as an example to shelter and sustain the wellbeing of each other. The need to support the most vulnerable with manaakitanga & kaitiakitanga - protection and care for one another is key to this kaupapa.
In Aotearoa New Zealand one in seventeen people will have thoughts of suicide over the next 2 weeks.
Most of those people will reach out for help, maybe not with words but in other ways. Many of them will hope someone will notice the pain they are in and help. All of them will feel alone and desperate for their situation to change. Suicide is a significant community health problem.
Every year more people die by suicide in New Zealand than on our roads, yet we hear very little about suicide or its impact. For every person who dies by suicide, there may be up to 100 more who are injured in nonfatal suicidal behaviours. The numbers are both frightening and sobering.
*Around 10-15 people a week will die by suicide in New Zealand.
*Each suicide impacts on a wide range of other people family/ whanau, friends, colleagues and neighbours including grief, shock, guilt and possible further suicides.
*Around 1 person in 20 is likely to think about suicide in any year.
The ripple effect of suicide through our families, whanau and community is enormous and long lasting. And unfortunately suicide can touch everyone regardless of age, culture or gender.
Often those contemplating suicide will reach out for help. If this happened to you, would you recognise signs or know what to do?
Initiatives like Te Rongo Toi Uru Arts Collective remind us that there is always something we can do to help others , to help ourselves and to be a part of this continuing story, to invite people into the conversation.
With this in mind, we've selected a group of professional & emerging artists to share their suicide prevention message with the community through different art mediums. The collective have worked collaboratively with the 'Whanganui Wellness & Suicide Prevention & Postvention' group and Lifeline Aotearoa for this project.
I am honoured to be able to have a part in this kaupapa, one of which i am pasionate about.
There is an exhibition which is currently on from 2 October 2015 running through to the 17th October 2015, if you happen to be in the region check it out.
Gallery on Guyton in Whanganui, New Zealand
