Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Maori legends are all around you as you tour NZ: Maui's
waka
became today's Southern
Alps; a
taniwha
(supernatural creature) formed Lake Waikaremoana in its death throes;
and a rejected Mt Taranaki walked into exile from the central North Island mountain
group, carving the Whanganui River.
Haka
involve chanted words, vigorous body movements, and
pukana
(when per-
formers 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'.
You can experience
haka
at various cultural performances including at Mitai Maori
Village (
Click here
)
, Tamaki Maori Village (
Click here
)
, Te Puia (
Click here
)
and
www.kotane.co.nz
; 60 Hussey Rd, Willowbank Wildlife Reserve; dancing, tour & dinner
package adult/child $110/54; 5.30pm Mon & Thu-Sat) at Willowbank in Christch-
urch; Maori Tours (
Click here
)
in Kaikoura; and Myths & Legends Eco-tours (
Click
But the best displays of
haka
are at the national Te Matatini National Kapa Haka
Festival (
Click here
)
, when NZ's top groups compete. It is held every two years, with the
festival in February 2015 to take place in Christchurch.
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
conversed 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.
