CAN MAORI CRAFTS BOARD FIND CARVERS?

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 214, 29 November 1927, Page 13

CAN MAORI CRAFTS BOARD FIND CARVERS?

REVIVAL OF ANCIENT ART Now that the Mount Eden Borough Council has decided in favour of the model Maori fortification on Maunga-whau, the next important point—after the collection of the money—is to obtain carvers. ranks of competent Maori carvers has been sadly depleted of recent years. The inauguration of the Maori Arts and Crafts Board by the Government was an effort to revive this ancient art. “The very fact of the board’s existence is an indication that there are not too many carvers left,” said Mr. Gilbert Archey, a member of the board, in Auckland to-day. One of the first efforts of the board, he explained, was the carving of the new decorations for Te Aute College in Hawke’s Bay. He was not aware, however, to what extent the work had actually progressed. Mr. Archey saw no reason at all why the board’s artists should not be employed on this work for the Mount Eden fortification. He believed that a very useful purpose would be served. Mr. George Graham, a member of the Te Akarana Maori Association, the body which originally moved in the matter and induced the borough council to fortify this part of the mountain, again says that tentative arrangements have already been made for the carvings. “To obtain old work is, of course, out of the question,” said Mr. Graham. “It will all have to be newly carved.” He did not consider that there would be any great difficulty in obtaining the artists for this work.

A sub-committee Avas now at work, he declared, making careful calculations as to what precisely Avas required in the way of material.