Tokiwai / Water Adze

Tokiwai/Water Adze celebrates ancient wisdom and features patterning inspired by Māori (New Zealand), Gaeltacht (Ireland), Gaelic (Scotland) and English carving traditions, reflecting Forde’s (b. 1973) ancestry. The work references the toki/adze, an ancient cutting tool used for carving.

Tokiwai/Water Adze is carved with markings of wai/water and arawai/waterways, which are vital to humanity’s survival and wellbeing. Mātauranga Māori, the traditional knowledge system of the Māori people, acknowledges the importance of treating wai/water with reverence, as well as acknowledging ngā taha wairua/the spiritual aspect of water. In the Sainsbury Centre Sculpture Park, Tokiwai/Water Adze’s swirling markings face towards the University of East Anglia Broad and River Yare, with the multiple textures and colours present in the Kōkawa Taranaki/Taranaki andesite visible from each angle. Kōkawa Taranaki/Taranaki andesite is a fine-grained volcanic rock from Taranaki Maunga/Mount Taranaki.

The work is on display for the first time in the UK, and together with Papare Eighty.one (2024) with Shiree Reihana (Ngāpuhi, Ngāi Tūteauru) (b. 1961), forms a key part of Forde’s collaborative installation, Tiaki Ora ∞ Protecting Life as part of the Sainsbury Centre’s Can We Stop Killing Each Other? season.

Forde (Taranaki Māori, Gaeltacht, Gaelic, English) began carving at 18, studying under sculptors Paul Dibble, Gary Whiting and Paul Hansen. Under the supervision of Professor Robert Jahnke at Massey University’s Māori Visual Arts Programme Toioho ki Āpiti, he gained a Post Graduate Diploma in Māori Visual Arts and a Masters of Māori Visual Arts with First Class Honours. Forde has since spent extended periods living in Taranaki and in Éire/Ireland, where he learnt ancient art themes. He now lives on Waiheke Island in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Dr Rosy Gray and Andrea Hammond, July 2025