Owen Mapp was New Zealand's first professional contemporary artist specialising in bone carving. When he started out five decades ago, bone carving was very much a poor relation to wood and ponoumu. As well as making his name here and overseas with his carvings, with their influences from Aotearoa, Europe and Japan, he's passed on his skills to several generations of carvers at Whitireia Polytechnic and at workshops. Pataka Art and Museum in Porirua is hosting a retrospective of his work - Owen Mapp: Dragons & Taniwha - 50 Years an Artist Carver.