MAORI CRAFTSMANSHIP

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 16, 10 September 1931, Page 3

MAORI CRAFTSMANSHIP

preserving new zealand's native art PAKEHA SEEKS TO PERPET'UATE WORK OF CARVING TOHUNGAS Rotorua has many things wh'ch are strange and many things which are unique, but now that the f irst novelty hasJworn off, it perhaps, . does not quite appreciate that it has one of the most interesting institu-' tions in the world centralised in the town.

It is some years now since the first publicity attending the formation ofo a Maori Arts and Crafts Board heralded the establishment in Rotorua of the s School of Maori Arts and Crafts — an institution unique in its lcind and one destined to play a great part in evolving the individuality of New Zealand. In the school, arts ! and crafts which have came to New Zealand as a heritage from its native i Maori race are preserved and it is a tribute to the far-sightedness of the men who set up the school, that they realised its necessity. Without some definite move on the part of the pakeha to preserve a unique and traditional art for the decay of which they have been directly responsible, there is no doubt that Maori art would have fallen definitely into the limbo of forgotten things and been consigned to obscurity as a mere curiosity. The Board of Maori Arts and Crafts, however, has rescued New Zealand's native art from that imminent fate, and to-day has been responsible to a very large extent for the renaissance in Maori arts which has taken place. With the setting up of . a school designed specially to encourage, develop and cultivate the art, New Zealand has made a unique gesture, for no other country in the world has taken a similar step to preserve against the encroachments of civilisation, the arts and crafts of its native inhabitants. The school at Ohinemutu has been working since March of 1927, and in four years has produced some very notable work. Advisedly, it has not entered into competition with private enterprise in the production of Maori curious for tourist purchase, but has concentrated more particularly upon the production of larger pieces which will remain as definite monuments and examples of Maori carving. Meeting House Carvings. The first commission undertaken by the school was the work for the carved entrance to the Rotorua High School, and this was followed by the execution of all the carving work for the well known "Whakaue" meeting house at Maketu. The carving work for tribal meeting houses is som'ething requiring infinite pains, for Maori carving is much more than a presentment of design. Each slab of carving has its own special significance and allotted place in the genex*al scheme of the house; in point of fact, these carved pieces, to the Maori, are the equivalent of the ancestral portraits and heraldie tapestries in the baronial halls of England. They are his family treasures and heirlooms and as such must be treated with a proper respect. The craftsmen at the Ohinemutu school have specialised in the production of carved pieces for these tribal meeting houses, and in addition to the work on the "Whakaue" house, have also completed what is^ the largest existing meeting house in New Zealand, at Kaiti, Gisborne. A third large meeting house at Ngaruawahia' has also been carved and at present work is being done for another house to be erected at Tokomaru Bay. These have been the main commissions undertaken, but in addition, a host of other work has been put through, while until the present depression curtailed finance, a number of pupils were also being taught the ancient craft. Last of Tohungas. With the passing of Tene Waitere, the last of the great Arawa carving tohungas, the responsibility for the preservation of the Maori carving art has been placed upon the school. Tene was a recognised master carver, a man who had the secrets of the work at his finger-tips and among the Arawas, who are the only tribe of the Maori people to continue the carving art until the present time not one of the old tohungas now remains. Before he departed to his rest above Lake Rotoiti, Tene left behind him much of his craft, but he took with him many of his secrets. His death has been a severe loss to the development of Maori art along traditional lines, for it has removed a man who was one of the last links with the secrets of the old Maori carving guilds. * The Old Masters. Crude as it might in some cases appear, there is in the work of the old' masters of Maori carving an indefin- 1 able something which distinguishes their work from that of less adept hands. The carving art was something carefully fostered and preserved in certain families who constituted themselves into guilds to preserve its secrets. With the Maoris, carving took high ranlc among the accomplishments, and very stringent tapu laws were imposed tb safeguard its mysteries. Although to a certain degree relaxed, these have persisted even to the present time; chips cut

from the carvings cannot be used for ordinary fires, but must be specially burned. Few, if any, Maoris will burns tbe chips from the Ohinemutu carvings, and among tbe older gener rations, none of the women wili eftter the room where the carvers are working. In many ways, the Director of the School (Mr. H. Hamilton) told a "Post" representative, little difficulties are encountered in the strict tapu laws and - superstitions which attach even now to the carvings, and care has to be taken not to infringe any of the Maori customs. The carvers working in the school have all the advantages to-day of modern tools, but they are tbe first to admit that the "old people" working with their stone adzes and obsidian knives, have handed down to them an art which only the true tohunga can attain. These old workmen, devoting endless time and patience to their labours, had the secrets of the involved Maori designs, but they had more* than that. They had a perf ect natural eye for form and line, so that without rules they could hew out work of perfect symmetry and proportions. DifFerent Schools. Among the Maori carvers there were a number of different schools, each with tbeir own methods of execution and with distinctive characteristics. With the exception of the Arawas,. however, all of these schools ha^e now died away, and it has been left for the Maori school of arts and crafts, by means of photography, to perpetuate their work. The Arawa carvers, working in the school, had in many cases never seen examples of work from other districts, but by colieeting photogjraphic ireprc)ienitations of the different styles of work, the Director has now been able to introduce to them new ideas in form, execution and design. Modifications. While the work done at the school is modelled entirely upon the tenets of the old tohungas, certain modifications in the form of the carvings have had to be made to conform with modern conditions. The old style of Maori meeting house, had practically no side yralls as we understand them, " but was built with wide sloping eaves almost to the ground level. Now, however, walls of greater height have been introduced, necessitating a carved dado which had no place in the old style of house. Also, the modern Maori meeting house usually makes provision for a stage and dressing rooms and these also require further nanels and carvings not sanctioned by custom. Keen Insight. In carving representations of his ancestors, the Maori showed keen insight into human nature. None of the-models were intended to be likenesses, but to make assurance doubly sure, the tattoo marks which are de- t finite means of identification are almost generally omitted. This was because experience had shown that while the mana or reputation of an illustrious ancestor might stand high :n his own generation, with the passage of years, it w'as often forgotten. In these cases it was often found convenient to bestow another name upoh the carving, so that it could represent some other ancestor whose mana was more potent at the time. In representing women, in the carvings, the Maori adopted a. steretyped phy'siognomy after the style of the school of painters who took a definite type as the Madonna ^ace. Other Forms of Work. In addition to the carving, other forms of work which are being developed at the\ school are the "tui" or painting design usually executed op -the rafters, and the "arapahi" or reed panelling design. Each of these classes of work has its own characteri^tics and are developed in conjunction with the carving work. Every care is taken to keep the arts as pure as possible and to follow closely the lines which have been laid down by the old masters. As "a ground work, there are very many pieces of wondej/xul old carving which have been preserved in museums and by the Maoris themselves, while from time to time other very valuable relics are turned up out of swamps and rescued from hiding places where they have lain for hundreds of years. Under the Maori Antiquities Act, 1908, the sale or removal abroad of these valuable relics is prohibited except under special permission, and this has had the effect of preserving them for the guidance of those who are seeking to perpetuate the art. The work which is being done at the Ohinemutu School of Maori Arts and Crafts is one of unique interest and value to all New Zealanders, for it is preserving something which is peculiarly New Zealand's own.