Spinning Top by Robert Jahnke, 2002

This sculpture in stainless steel is found in Woodward Street, Central Wellington. It is on the site of a former turntable, on which vehicles turned around in the cul-de-sac. Symbols on the upper side relate to the Wellington region and refer to Maori and European culture. They include the Beehive, a waka (canoe), a sailing ship and the two taniwha whose movements formed the harbour and surrounding hills.

Robert Jahnke's work often tackles issues of biculturalism and protest over Maori loss of land and natural resources. He had been working on a series of Maori spinning tops or potaka and decided to modify the design to include a pictorial history of Wellington.

The Wellington Sculpture walks website quotes the sculptor as saying
"I wanted to go for something that was visually interesting, so I created a European version of the top and included Maori references through heiroglyphics. Spinning Top traces the history of Whanganui-a-Tara, the Maori name for Wellington. The major mythical story is that of the two taniwha in the harbour. The taniwha formed the harbour and the surrounding hills with their movements."

I went out early this morning for a run in Wellington, before again spending the day in the meeting room. I decided to just run around the central city streets seeing what I could find. I came across this, and was really taken with it.

I was particularly interested to note its presence in this place. In an earlier incarnation, about 20 years ago I regularly attended meetings in Wellington when I was president of our union. A group of us walked from our hotel to the union's offices through this little street, and up the steps (on which I was standing to take the photograph). The flat brick circle was in those days a turntable, moved by an electric motor started by the motorist pulling a rope attached to a long handle.

I think that there is a resonance created by placing a top in a circle sited on what was once a circular turntable, for turning vehicles.