Before becoming the architect of New Zealand colonisation, Edward Gibbon Wakefield (1796-1862) was incarcerated in London's Newgate Prison. He served three years for abducting and marrying a fifteen-year-old schoolgirl, hoping to blackmail her rich father into supporting his political career. It was in prison that he devised his theory to increase the profitability of colonies by restricting land ownership. By delaying the sale of land to settlers, they would remain a landless workforce to be exploited, growing the wealth of the Motherland. Wakefield's political writings redeemed him, and, in 1840, he was appointed Director of the New Zealand Company, where he put his theory into effect. But his thinking, which overlooked the place of Maori people, would have real consequences for them.
Brett Graham's sculpture Wakefield Dreaming evokes and challenges Wakefield's legacy. It is based on prison watchtowers-specifically the iconic ones at Paremoremo Prison, with its absurdly high percentage of Maori inmates. But there's a twist. Graham says. 'I'm conscious that, in the context of Waiheke, it is turning the tables; the wealthy and privileged being the ones being observed.' While Wakefield is remembered as an innovative figure in New Zealand history, Graham's sculpture entangles Wakefield's 'dreams' with incarceration.