The Last Kauri

— Moonlight 2019, Auckland

“A little tribute to the greatest of our trees that sits on a precipice at this time. The silos which surround this small piece are 27.75 m, coincidentally just 2cm smaller in circumference than the largest recorded kauri which was 3,500 years old. This young sapling which we have woven amongst its whānau sits delicate and dwarfed by the giant concrete silos that surround it. It is vulnerable. It is sacred and in our hands.”

Xanthe White

The Last Kauri featured as an installation in the Moonlight exhibition within the silos at Silo Park, October 2019. A living kauri ecology, the piece invites the viewer to look closer but if they are to cross the threshold to remove their shoes, raising awareness of the imminent threat kauri dieback poses to these precious and unique ecosystems.

Project Details

Key Plants

Agathis australis (Kauri), Ackama rosifolia (Makamaka), Astelia banksii (Wharawhara), Astelia trinerva (Kōkaha), Carpodetus serratus (Putaputaweta), Cyathea dealbata (Ponga), Dacrycarpus dacrydioides (Kahikatea), Dicksonia squarrosa (Wheki), Elatostema rugosum (Parataniwha), Kunzea ericoides (Kanuka), Leptinella dioca, Leptostigma setulosa, Metrosideros robusta (Rata), Myrsine australis (Red Mapou), Nestegis apetala (Maire), Phyllocladus trichomanoides (Tanekaha), Podocarpus totara (Tōtara), Polytrichadelphus magellanicus, Pseudopanax crassifolius (Horoeka), Psuedopanax lessonii (Houpara), Sophora microphylla (Kōwhai),