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A contingent from Aotearoa and the wider Pacific
have converged on to the Royal Academy Arts Museum in London
as the 'Oceania' Exhibition opens this weekend.
And as Whatitiri Te Wake reports,
the event is timed to mark Captain Cook's maiden voyage
to the Pacific 250 years ago.
They've arrived at the heel of Queen Elizabeth.
The Maori people have arrived.
The people of Polynesia have converged
on to The Royal Arts Museum in London
where a collection of artefacts will be on display to the world
Two of these artefacts have been loaned from Auckland Museum.
This lintel is one of the exhibits,
it's a priceless historical artefact.
The name is Tangonge,
a name gifted to the taonga as it was uncovered in the Tangonge Lake,
in Pukepoto, Kaitaia.
This artefact is from ancient times,
it's said to be one of the oldest in New Zealand.
One of the descendants of the Te Rarawa iwi
will accompany it on its first journey out of NZ.
I feel uneasy about it being the first time to leave the country,
it's ancient.
But I can feel the spirit among us so I feel a bit better.
Another carving that will be exhibited
at the Royal Academy Museum is Whakapakoko.
According to spokesperson for Auckland Museum, Bobby Newson,
its origins are of the people of Te Arawa.
This carving is of Madonna and Child carved in 1835
and was displayed in the churches of Rotorua.
The exhibition will open to the public this weekend in London.
Whatitiri Te Wake, Te Karere.