ART OF THE MAORIS

Hokitika Guardian, 30 August 1930, Page 2

ART OF THE MAORIS

BEAUTY AND USEFULNESS. • l ' ’ ft *. > \ i' >■ » ¥ .■ V • “Though .Maori art lifts impressed observers tlie time' 1 that Mr Earle praised it in 1827,%ii ftas. not 'yet been fully studied orVtisjfactotfly analysed’’ stated Dr I. L. ia College, wheq addressing the Workers’ Educational • Association.:.‘There are widely current assumptions concerning it which are certainly, wrong.” “The Maori people and tHeir culture iresent very complex to the anthologist," he continued, pV.ivnci it cannot be claimed ye3 been solved. Their nrt ban only be understood in relation to their ,'ife and culture as a whole, also the element of neaning conveyed in its various,forms, t is a mistaken view to suppose that lie general style of Maori art is entirely confined to New Zealand and has been developed locally. The spiral form so freely used by native artists was not suggested by the* curling young fern frond, but caujpe traced back in locality and time though the Pacific, the Malay Archipelago,'lndia) Persia and the Eastern Mediterranean, to Egypt. “In spite of its close relationship to Polynesian art, which is confined to straight lines ana makes hardly any use of the human figure, Maori' art is quite different, and uses both the spiral and the human figure ifreely, generally getting its best effect through" oheir use. The ancestors of the Maori' were no doubt acquainted with metals,' and a stone implement of unusual shape found in New Zealand is allied to stone forms in South-eastern Asia, which were themselves copies of metal originals. r. ,

“The new environment in these islands led to certain changes in their, mode of life, and these in turn gave. new opportunities for the decorative artist. The cooler climate here necessitated more substantial houses, Hand much of the best Maori carving is,associated with the decoration of tlieir houses. This also included woven panels and elaborate and beautiful rafter patterns, and no doubt the abundance of fine hard woods found in this country would account in some measure for the remarkable development 1 in woodcarving also.” Dr Sutherland referred to the intertribal warfare of the natives. “Their regular summer pastime,” which supplied a powerful motive in Maori life and work. It was not very destructive until the coming of the white man, and the ceremonies connected with it and with intertribal visiting and the exchange of valuable objects afforded great scope for the exercise of many types of Maori art. Throughout the hundreds ot years that they-,’ were established here before the advent of the white man, the artistic impulses of the -Maori people added beauty -to usefulness, and there was scarcely an object which was not given its characteristic decoration. Even the bird-snares were beautifully and carefullly carved, while the Maori decorated his ' house, 1 his canoe, his weapons, his domestic articles, his garments and himself! Some-, times usefulness was sacrificed to decoration and this applied to such highlyvalued objects as weapons. ■'