MAORI ARTS AND CRAFTS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19996, 13 January 1927, Page 15

MAORI ARTS AND CRAFTS.

WORK OF BOARD. COLLECTION OF INFORMATION. (Special to Daily Times.j AUCKLAND, January 11. “I am confident that the newly formed Maori Arts and Crafts Board will bo successful in its endeavours to foster native handicrafts,” said Dr P H. Buck to-day on his return from Rotorua, whore he attended the first meeting of the board, of which ho is a member. “Lately there has been a great stimulation and advance in the practical steps towards the study of the Maori race,” said Dr Buck. “First there was the established board of Maori Ethnological Research, and this body had funds for the publication of data and material, and for assisting in research work. The establishment of the Board of Maori Arts and Crafts concentrates on what might be termed the decorative side of Maori handicrafts or the artistic work of the Maori The board will be an organisation under which all the material bearing on these things can be brought togefchcr, and one of the effects of the establishrnent of the board will be the collection and amalgamation of all information on such crafts as carving, plaiting and weaving, the painting of house rafters, and the decorations of the wall panels oi the larger meeting houses. The Maoris themselves in many par.s were experiencing a desire to nse some ot their own decorations for the embellishment of their homes, but the trouble had been that there had been no craftsmen in many districts, and the art had passe-l completely away. The establishment of a school where students .could be taught would probably have a big effect in supplying that want. “The view is held by many people that the Maori has an artistic sense,” added Dr Buck, and the establishment of the school will enable him to develop it and create new ideas, rather than slavishly follow old models, and to make it a living art by adapting it to suit modern requirements. Mans' °f our l ar S e public buildings have nothing characteristic of New Zealand about them, and it might be that the work of the school and its collection of data and materia] might help to develop certain elements in decorative art that could form part of the national art characteristic of the country. At present, outside the native districts, there is practically no art or decorative work distinctive of Now Zealand, and the now board wili croato an opportunity to use and adopt some of the Maori leatnres in public buildings. The Auckland V* ar Memorial Museum will incorporate some such features.” , The new board i? to establish a school at Rotorua, and there will be collected photographs and casts of all good Maori work now scattered throughout the Dominion. ______