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Vault unveiled... in replica

27 May 2014

The intriguing vault of enigmatic historial figure Dr Robert Felkin is being recreated by artists from the Keirunga Gardens Arts and Crafts Society, using Resene paint for an exhibition at MTG Hawke’s Bay.

Dr Felkin led The Forerunners, a collective of writers, artists and philosophers who banded together to create a utopian community in Havelock North in the early 1900s.

Dr Robert Felkin was an English doctor, missionary, personal physician to the King of Uganda and an international occultist who moved to New Zealand to lead them. Pieced together from brand new primary research, the exhibition Dr Felkin and the Forerunners: visions of utopia, 1900-1930  opened on May 17 to reveal their extraordinary story.
The vault is in Dr Felkin’s well-known arts and crafts home, Whare Ra, designed

by celebrated architect James Chapman-Taylor, and is a visually splendid seven-sided room covered in symbols that represent the elements, planets, and astrological signs as well as Hebrew letters to signify the Tree of Life. The vault played an integral role for the members of Felkin’s inner order.
Relics and treasured belongings of the Felkin family are also on show, along with writing from The Forerunner journal. For more information, see www.mtghawkesbay.com

Published: 27 May 2014