Up the River

When Samuel Butler arrived at the wharf in Lyttelton, he went straight to the table d’hôte at the Mitre for dinner - “so foreign and yet so English”. During his four years here he barely mentions Maori other than something to be “passed over unnoticed”, however in his novel, it is a Maori guide who accompanies his protagonist on his journey ‘over the range’ to Erewhon. Last week we met with Hohepa Bowen, a Lyttelton based artist who discussed his pounamu carvings and his perspective on Erewhon with us. #erewhonproject