Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
See Ngahuia Te Awekotuku's
Mau Moko: The World of Maori Tattoo
(2007) for the big picture, with powerful,
beautiful images and an incisive commentary.
Carving
Traditional Maori carving, with its intricate detailing and curved lines, can transport the
viewer. It's quite amazing to consider that it was done with stone tools, themselves
painstakingly made, until the advent of iron (nails suddenly became very popular).
Some major traditional forms are
waka
(canoes),
pataka
(storage buildings), and
wharenui
(meeting houses). You can see sublime examples of traditional carving at Te
Papa in Wellington, and at the following:
Auckland Museum
(
Click here
)
Maori Court
Hell's Gate
(
Click here
)
Carver in action every day; near Rotorua
Putiki Church
(
Click here
)
Interior covered in carvings and
tukutuku
(wall panels), Whan-
ganui
Taupo Museum
(
Click here
)
Carved meeting house
Te Manawa
(
Click here
)
Museum with a Maori focus, Palmerston North
Waikato Museum
(
Click here
)
Beautifully carved
waka taua
(war canoe), Hamilton
Wairakei Terraces
(
Click here
)
Carved meeting house, Taupo
Waitangi Treaty Grounds
(
Click here
)
Whare runanga
and
waka taua
Whakarewarewa Thermal Village
(
Click here
)
The 'living village' - carving, other arts, meeting
house and performance, Rotorua
Whanganui Regional Museum
(
Click here
)
Wonderful carved
waka
, Whanganui
The apex of carving today is the
whare whakairo
(carved meeting house). A commission-
ing group relates its history and ancestral stories to a carver, who then draws (sometimes
quite loosely) on traditional motifs to interpret or embody the stories and ancestors in
wood or composite fibreboard.
Rongomaraeroa Marae,
by artist Cliff Whiting, at Te Papa in Wellington is a colourful
example of a contemporary re-imagining of a traditional art form. The biggest change in
carving (as with most traditional arts) has been in the use of new mediums and tools.
Rangi Kipa uses a synthetic polymer called Corian to make his
hei tiki
(figure motif worn
around the neck), the same stuff that is used to make kitchen benchtops. You can check
out his gallery at
www.rangikipa.com
.
