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Sculpture profile

Raupo Rap
Viaduct Basin, Auckland
2005, red granite, white granite, stainless steel
Artist - Denis O'Connor
Gift of Auckland City Sculpture Trust

Raupo Rap by Denis O'Connor

Raupo Rap  takes the form of a giant hook elevated on pillars. The hook references the tool traditionally used by waterside workers to load and unload ships at the wharves. In this respect it is a symbol of work on the dockyards.

The sculptor of this work, Denis O'Connor was born and raised in this area. His father worked on the dockyards. As a youngster, O'Connor used to wait at the wharf gates for his father to finish work. His father lived and died here. He died at work, on Princes Wharf, not far from the site of this sculpture. Raupo Rap therefore has personal significance for the artist. It is a memorial. It marks a personal place for the artist and stands also as a memorial to all the ships and vessels of the Auckland waterfront, those who worked on them and those whose lives are intricately bound up with this particular place.

More information about this and other works around Auckland's waterfront can be found under the collection.

Text supplied by Dr Robin Woodward, Department of Art History, University of Auckland.