Rotorua Deputy Mayor Trevor Maxwell says a 10 metre waka maumahara at the World Expo in Shanghai will be an international window into te ao Maori.
Mr Maxwell, who is a kaupapa Maori advisor for Tourism New Zealand, was at Te Puia Maori arts and crafts institute on Thursday for a poroporoaki for a 3,000 year old log of Northland kauri, which is now on its way to Shanghai.
Waatea News reports carvers have until New Zealand Day on 9 July to turn it into a canoe-shaped gateway to the New Zealand Pavillion.
Mr Maxwell says up to 70 million visitors are expected through the Expo between May - October.
