Māori Jesus mural vandalised
A DUNEDIN principal suspects an overnight paint job over her school’s mural of aMa ¯ori Jesus was a racist attack.
St Joseph's Cathedral
School principal Jo Stanley was shocked when she arrived at school yesterday morning to find the new mural had been fully covered in white paint.
‘‘When I first came in I thought it was just absolutely unbelievable.
‘‘I just thought ‘what? . . . what have they done?’.’’
The mural was unveiled at the school earlier this month.
Ms Stanley said she suspected the vandal wrecked the mural because Jesus was depicted as Ma¯ori and accused them of being ‘‘very small minded’’.
The offender must have used a ladder to fully cover the mural, she said.
The artwork had been designed and painted by school pupils, guided by Dunedin artist Aroha Novak.
Ms Novak thought the attack was ‘‘pretty stink’’.
‘‘I don’t mind about myself, but it’s just the kids have put a lot of effort into that so that’s not fair on them.
‘‘No matter what people’s ideologies are, they shouldn’t be desecrating children’s artwork, basically.’’
She said she had painted murals in the past that had been tagged, but noone had ever painted over any of them.
‘‘That’s really really vindictive.’’
Ms Stanley had informed police and said the children would design and paint a new mural depicting a Māori Jesus.