| Contemporary Māori art & artists | |
| general background and sources |  recent picks |
With the arrival of the Pakeha settlers and traders in the nineteenth century, Māori culture and social life underwent profound changes, which in turn had an impact on way Māori expressed themselves through what in Western terms is 'the arts'.This was not just simply the fact of new technology, such as the metal tools which influenced the style of carving; the adoption of Christianity and the realisation that their culture was under threat created a climate in which the prophets - Te Kooti, Te Whiti, and Rua Kenana, among others, preaching a message of salvation -were able to inspire new forms of expression incorporating both Māori and Pakeha imagery. Notable among these are Rongopai, Te Kooti's famous painted meeting house; Rua Kenana's round house at Maungapohatu; and Te Wepu (the whip), Te Kooti's battle flag. This famous flag, originally made by sisters at the Meeanee Mission and taken by Te Kooti, was then captured by Gilbert Mair, who gave it to the Dominion Museum, where he later found it had been cut up for dusters! SOURCES:- In the early years of last century, the Young Māori Party, led by Western educated liberals such as Sir Apirana Ngata and Peter Buck, encouraged their people to return to traditional, conservative forms of carving and decoration, "turning their backs" on the prophets, whose ideas they believed were preventing Māori progress. For many years, these traditional forms WERE 'Maori Art'. In the 1950's, however, Gordon Tovey, national art supervisor for the Department of Education, gathered together a group of younger Māori artists to train as art specialists. Among these were Ralph Hotere, Fred Graham, Arnold Wilson, and Para Matchitt. Working together, these artists were inspired to work with new forms and motifs. In particular, Para Matchitt turned back to the motifs of Te Kooti and the Ringatu Church - star, crescent, cross, mountain, and bleeding heart - symbols of trial, hope, and suffering. In some sort of reparation, his powerful work in wood, 'Te Wepu', is now owned by the same institution that destroyed the original. SOURCES:-
Paratene Matchitt : the principle of change in Māori art / Rangihiroa Panoho.
A blaze of colour : Gordon Tovey, artist educator / Carol Henderson.
Many younger Māori artists, trained in European art institutions, are now successfully combining Māori and European methods and motifs to create their works, which are often political statements about the present position of Māori. The use of Ringatu motifs is continued by Shane Cotton, but the means of expression of the younger artists are many and varied. Some names to look for are: Robyn Kahukiwa, Emily Karaka, John Walsh, Peter Robinson, Lily Laita, Diane Prince, Maureen Lander, Kura te Waru Rewiri, Jacqueline Fraser, Brett Graham, and Michael Parekowhai; an excellent source for finding out about contemporary Māori art is Mataora : the living face / edited by Sandy Adsett, Cliff Whiting, and Witi Ihimaera - it gives large illustrations of many artist's works, plus biographies.
Recent articles of interest:
ART NEW ZEALAND NUMBER 126 / AUTUMN 2008
ART NEW ZEALAND NUMBER 124 / SPRING 2007
ART NEW ZEALAND NUMBER 118 / AUTUMN 2006
ART NEW ZEALAND 117 / SUMMER 2005-2006
ART NEW ZEALAND 116 / SPRING 2005
OTHER ARTICLES:
ART NEW ZEALAND 58 Autumn 1991
ART NEW ZEALAND 59 Winter 1991
ART NEW ZEALAND 60 Spring 1991
Shane Cotton (1998)
Māori folk art / Alan Taylor.
Te Ata : Māori art from the East Coast, New Zealand / edited by Witi Ihimaera & Ngarino Ellis ; afterword by Katrina Te Hei Koko Mataira.
CD-ROM
WEB SITES | |
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Some recently acquired titles BOOKS | |
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The carver and the artist : Māori art in the twentieth century / Damian Skinner. 2008
This exciting book by a leading younger art historian charts the growth and development of the Māori modernist art that emerged from the rapid urbanisation of Māori in the midtwentieth century and the complex transition of Māori cultural and social structures from a rural to an urban setting. Artists like Arnold Wilson, Para Matchitt and Selwyn Muru, encouraged by Gordon Tovey and the Education Department, constructed a Māori art that reacted against the customary culture championed by Ngata and attempted to respond to the modern world in which they lived.Introductory chapters set the conservative scene against which the artists reacted and a conclusion points forward to contemporary Māori art which, under the impact of the Maori renaissance of the 1970s, showed a renewed focus on tradition. This book includes a rich selection of reproductions of Māori modernist art, many of which are of brilliant works not widely known and often from the artists' own collections. This important book will attract widespread attention and interest. |
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Ralph Hotere / with Kriselle Baker & Vincent O'Sullivan. 2008
A beautifully produced large format book on the paintings of Ralph Hotere. Mainly illustrations but includes two essays - by Kriselle Baker and Vincent O'Sullivan. |
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Toi ora : ancestral Māori treasures / edited by Arapata Hakiwai and Huhana Smith. 2008
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Taiāwhio II : contemporary Māori artists : 18 new conversations / general editor Huhana Smith with Oriwa Soloman, Awhina Tamarapa and Megan Tamati-Quennell ; photography by Norman Heke.
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Michael Parekowhai / [edited by Michael Lett and Ryan Moore]. 2007
Last updated 2 February 2009
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