Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Haka
Experiencing
haka
can get the adrenaline flowing, as it did for one Pakeha observer in
1929 who thought of dark Satanic mills: 'They looked like fiends from hell wound up by
machinery'.
Haka
can be awe- inspiring; they can also be uplifting. The
haka
is not only a
war dance - it is used to welcome visitors, honour achievement, express identity or to put
forth very strong opinions.
Haka
involve chanted words, vigorous body movements, and
pukana
(when performers
distort their faces, eyes bulging with the whites showing, perhaps with tongue extended).
The well-known
haka
'Ka Mate', performed by the All Blacks before rugby test
matches, is credited to the cunning fighting chief Te Rauparaha. It celebrates his escape
from death. Chased by enemies, he hid himself in a food pit. After they had left, a friendly
chief named Te Whareangi (the 'hairy man' referred to in the
haka
), let him out; he
climbed out into the sunshine and performed 'Ka Mate'.
On the North Island, you can experience
haka
at various cultural performances in Ro-
torua, including at Mitai Maori Village (
Click here
)
, Tamaki Maori Village (
Click here
)
,
Te Puia (
Click here
)
and Whakarewarewa Thermal Village (
Click here
)
. In the Bay of Is-
lands,
haka
is performed at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds (
Click here
)
, and in Auckland at
the Auckland Museum (
Click here
)
.
But the best displays of
haka
are at the Te Matatini National Kapa Haka Festival when
NZ's top groups compete. It is held every two years, with the next festival in March 2015
to take place in Christchurch.
Music plays an important role in traditional and contemporary Maori culture.
Contemporary Visual Art
A distinctive feature of Maori visual art is the tension between traditional Maori ideas and
modern artistic mediums and trends. Shane Cotton produced a series of works that con-
versed with 19th-century painted meeting houses, which themselves departed from Maori
carved houses. Kelcy Taratoa uses toys, superheroes and pop urban imagery alongside
weaving and carving design.
Of course not all Maori artists use Maori motifs. Ralph Hotere is a major NZ artist who
'happens to be Maori' (his words), and his career-long exploration of black speaks more
to modernism than the traditional
marae
context.
