Wāhine is a 3.7-metre-tall bronze sculpture on Victoria Street West in Auckland CBD, depicting a Māori woman performing a karanga call of welcome. The statue is located near the north-eastern exit of the Te Waihorotiu Station on Victoria Street West, Auckland CBD, and faces up the hill toward toward this new station for the City Rail Line. The figure stands on a low basalt plinth, wears a korowai, woven cloak, and hei tiki, pendant, and carries kawakawa leaves, a sacred tapu plant. She is positioned to greet people as they emerge from the station - and her mouth is open as if she is singing.
Wāhine, photo by Rich Greissman
The artists, master carver Arekatera "Katz" Maihi (Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, Tainui, Ngāpuhi) and weaver Beronia Scott (Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei) wanted the artwork to show a Māori woman with the mana and seniority to perform the ritual of manaakitanga, welcoming visitors. Katz Maihi conceived Wāhine as a counterpart to the 1960s sculpture A Māori Figure in a Kaitaka Cloak by Molly Macalister which stands near the Ferry Building facing the Waitematā Harbour. The $744,000 cost for Wāhine was mostly covered by a targeted rate from the city centre businesses and property owners.
With the opening of the new City Rail Line, both the Wāhine and her companion piece Horotiu (a 7.2-metre-long statue depicting a tuna kūwharuwharu, longfin eel) were unveiled in a ceremony led by Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei on July 29, 2026. Read more about these two statues on the Auckland Council website at https://ourauckland.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/news/2026/07/epic-artworks-bring-themes-of-mana-wahine-and-kaitiaki-to-new-crl-station-precinct/