The Grove is a collaborative colouring mural installation inspired by nature and community. Drawn on the windows of Botany Library, the artwork features native plants of Aotearoa alongside plants in pots, symbolising the people who grow, connect and belong in New Zealand.

Visitors are invited to colour and complete the mural together, celebrating the diversity, shared stories and connections that make our community unique.

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Behind the idea

The native plants of Aotearoa New Zealand, the flax, the fern and the pōhutukawa, arise from the land and represent where we are.

The plants in pots symbolise all of us growing in this place, Aotearoa: those who were born here and those who have come from far away.

I like to think about what connects us and makes us equal, which is why I imagine us as part of the same garden, sharing our lives and growing together as a unique community: The Grove.

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The Māori words add even more depth, as they carry a wide range of meanings. They represent not only the land, but also our connection to it, and the history and stories of the people who came before us.

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Nāu te rourou, nāku te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi: with your basket and my basket, the people will thrive.