Maori Wood Carving – Living or Dying

Tu Tangata, Issue 3, 1 November 1981, Page 18

Maori Wood Carving - Living or Dying

It is with hesitancy that I put forward the following comments on Maori wood carving. There is nothing so arrogant as a little knowledge and perhaps nothing so intrusive as another Pakeha theory. But here lam on the marae as it were, perhaps improperly but here all the same, and so I make bold to say:

D.G. PRYOR

There is a part of Maori wood carving that is as personal and as private as the family album. I refer, of course, to the meeting house, its poupou panels and pou tokoman-

awa. It is that domain of carving which embodies the memories of the hapu and to a large extent therefore its identity. Quite properly that is a preserve. To the outsider viewing yet another meeting house it can be as boring as flicking through someone else’s photograph album. Quite properly the Maori should not be concerned about that. Nothing should be done to project the meeting house to the public. In this private domain of carving what matters is that the past is preserved. It is important that with it is preserved all that is traditional in carving. It should be there as a constant reminder of the excellence that has been achieved. INHIBIT GROWTH But as a preserve it is unlikely to be a growth point for Maori wood carving. Its function is not to stimulate new growth. In fact it might be that the influence of this part of Maori culture is so strong that it inhibits development. The tiki forms, the manaia figures and the surface decoration have so captured the Maori character that little else might remain to be said. And yet the writings of Gilbert Archey as the Director of the Auckland Museum suggest that Maori

wood carving at some point in time was fluid and developing. Even if his assumptions about the development of the double spiral for instance, are debatable, it is highly probable that there has been movement in design and form. Today, however, for the most part Maori wood carving to many appears to be dead and no longer relevant. As an art form it has ceased to speak to people. Many see it as a heavily stylised, repetitious form of carving. In vain they look for some meaning in the relationship of the manaia figures to the tiki figure. Like reading morse code they search the surface decorations for some message. There is some relief it is true in looking at the waka huia, the taiaha, the bailers and so on but that does not form a coherent art form. It tends to be this and that. REAL CLOUT Could it be that Maori wood carving really is dead or have we been looking at the feathers on the taiaha rather than the end with the real clout in it? That is, have we paid more attention to the superficial in Maori wood carving, beautiful though it is, than we have to the human emotion behind the carving.

Let us put ourselves in the place of those early Maori wood carvers. There was little or nothing to copy, they were faced as every artist is with depicting emotion. Look at some of the human emotion invested in those early carvings, (see illustrations) You can feel the sense of adventure the carver experi-

enced when he shaped the thrusting figure of the tau-ihu. There is a vitality in that figure which would have found pride of place in any Viking shipyard.

There is spirit of daring too in the figure carved underneath the tauihu. The artist who took that lithe body and added to it the enlarged head and the tongue that curled out in harmony with the breaking waves was expressing a deep feeling for movement.

Movement found expression in many ways but perhaps nowhere as expressively as in the whale on the maihi or in the linked manaia figures of Taranaki.

SUBTLE SKILL

The Maori wood carver was just as skilled at expressing the subtlety of human relationships. The embracing male/female carvings cast a spell over the observer. Obviously we have intruded into a very intimate relationship. For a moment we look at that relationship and all action is suspended. The tension of it is almost enough to dismiss us. And when we do turn our backs, what will ensue? Not only is there a sense of intimacy and privacy but in the strength of that embrace there is an eternity.

If Maori wood carving is to continue to develop, the question is can it move out of its private domain or preserve into the world where artists rub shoulders? In other words without abandoning the excellence of the past, can Maori carvers start again to express the vigour of life in their carvings?

NEW MESSAGE

There is perhaps one great strength to work from. Ironically, the forms and surface decorations which are now familiar to the point of contempt provide a symbolism which unobtrusively can be adapted to carry a new message. For example, where fear is to be portrayed about some threat of modern society, the symbolism of the three fingers in the mouth readily carries some of that fear. The takarangi spiral and the wakarere pattern still impart a sense of confusion. The concerns of family life could still find expression in the male/female and child relationships.

This is not to say that there should not be other innovations. For instance movement into three dimensional space could be used to heighten the sense of the emotion being expressed. But innovation should not outstrip the public by such a margin that appreciation is lost. Neither should innovation be an excuse from the painstaking search for excellence.

Either Maori wood carving is dead and as a society we are prepared simply to relive the past, or we are moved by the events of our time and are sufficiently moved to give our attitudes expression. To go on copying the past is intellectually dishonest. It is no good carving this and that. Surely the issues of today are so vital to the Maori race and humanity in genral that if the wood carver is to be an artist, he cannot turn his back any longer.