Maori Place Names - 31

Near Dargaville

Far North, North Island
May 2009 Ajr

A Northern Discovery

My time in the Far North (April-May this year) was a busy blur of hotel and travel guide business, photographs and unscheduled side-tracks down dusty, gravel roads leading to who-knows-where. I discovered all sorts of things that way - places I'd never been to before, places I knew nothing about. Sometimes I didn't even have to veer off the main roads; I just came upon new surprises quite by chance.

This was one of them - the delightful Te Kaiwaha Marae at Waiwhatawhata. I would have whizzed right by it had my attention not been caught by the yellow roadsign marking the Waiwhatawhata Stream. That was a lovely long name I HAD to have for my Maori Place Names Series, so I pulled up in a hurry - and found myself right outside the gates to pretty Te Kaiwaha Marae, tucked away, hidden from road view by thickets of harakeke (flax) and native trees. All I have been able to establish about the marae is that it is home to the Ngapuhi hapu (sub-tribe) Ngati Korokoro/Ngati Wharara of the Hokianga. www.ngapuhi.iwi.nz

Where Geysers Played

I photographed these unusual carvings at Rotorua’s Malfroy Geysers in Government Gardens, near the museum. They're the only white carvings I've ever seen and I’m not to sure about the significance of them; but certainly there is plenty of available information about Jean Michel Camille Malfroy, who was born in France in 1839. He arrived in New Zealand during the goldrushes of the 1860s and settled in Ross in Westland. He was an inventive engineer and in 1886 he arrived in Rotorua to work for the Crown Lands Development, monitoring lake levels and thermal activity after the Tarawera eruption and overseeing work at the Rotorua Sanitorium. In 1891 he became chairman of the Rotorua Town Board and he established a diplomatic relationship in his dealings with local Maori.

Although well known for a wide range of inventions associated with improvements at the Rotorua Sanitorium, Malfroy also made a name for himself for his work in creating the trio of artificial geysers, appropriately named The Malfroy Geysers, which is where these carvings now stand. The geysers, now dormant, were capable of playing to a height of 12 metres and were formed by directing hot water from nearby Oruawhata Springs, through pipes fitted with regulating valves. Oruawhata, it should be noted, was a deep thermal chasm filled with boiling water and poisonous gases, which was used by Maori as a burial pit for the remains of warriors. The pool and its urupa (burial ground) was filled in many years ago but the site is still held in high regard by the people of Ngati Whakaue – which, I suspect, is what these carvings may be in honour of.

A Tiki in a Window

How Much is that Tiki in the Window?

(A Small Moment of Retail Prettiness)
Christchurch. October 2009. Ajr

Maori Place Names - 30

Awatere, East Cape, North Island

Treasure Trove

Waka Huia 2009 Areta Wilkinson. Image: Studio La Gonda

Waka Huia is a treasure trove of precious jewellery, objects and stories created by leading New Zealand jeweller, Areta Wilkinson (Kai Tahu, Kati Mamoe/Waitaha, Pakeha) – a beautiful, personal exhibition that opens tonight at Hawke’s Bay Museum & Art Gallery, in Napier. Traditionally, a waka huia was a treasure or feather box used by Maori to store personal and special objects associated with adornment and spirituality. This Waka Huia takes viewers on a journey through Wilkinson’s life history, connecting each object to korero (stories) that reflect her delight in the extraordinary nature of ordinary moments.

A Stolen Moment 2009 Areta Wilkinson. Image: Studio La Gonda

Each story is intensely personal, anchored to Wilkinson’s own whanau, iwi and community but, through the act of storytelling, she evokes a wider narrative that considers the role that everyday objects play in our collective cultural memory. Areta Wilkinson (b.1969) has been making jewellery since 1991. She has worked as a design lecturer at Unitec Auckland and has made brooches for Queen Elizabeth II, the late Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikahu and for Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu. She currently lives and works from her studio in Oxford, in North Canterbury; and in May this year she received one of New Zealand’s most prestigious awards for contemporary jewellery – TheNewDowse Gold Award.
Tawai 2009 Areta Wilkinson. Image: Studio La Gonda
Waka Huia is a touring exhibition and as it travels to different venues around New Zealand, it is gradually re-shaped by its journey. As a special addition to the Waka Huia project, Wilkinson visited the collection of Hawke’s Bay Cultural Trust/Ruawharo Ta-u-Rangi to research a new series of works. Among the collection was a small toggle made from albatross bone. Albatross bones were prized by Maori, used in instruments and adornments that utilised their strong, hollow form. This indigenous ‘finding’ (a jewellery component/clasp,hook,back) captured Wilksinon’s attention and she has translated the artefact into a series of sterling silver toggles, entitled ‘Memory Aid I, II and III. For Wilkinson, this series acts as a reference point to the local history of adornment. All images by Studio Gonda, courtesy of Areta Wilkinson 2009. Waka Huia is open to the public at Hawke's Bay Museum & Art Gallery from October 17 to March 14, 2010. www.hbmag.co.nz

Of Washing and Whare

I’d been driving for quite some time when I got to Ruapeka Marae, near Fitzgerald Glade on State Highway 5 on the way to Rotorua, so I was more than happy to pull up on the wide road berm and sit awhile. When I lived in the North Island, I must have driven past this particular marae a hundred times and never really noticed it. This time was different. I pushed my seat back, opened the windows and just sat listening to the birds, wondering what went on here on an average day.

There was no one about and I have since discovered it is one of the many Ngati Raukawa marae – of the hapu Ngati Tukorehe. Their wharenui is named Rangimarie and their whare kai is Te Aroha. It’s a pretty spot, with the bright yellow wharenui sitting to one side of a large paddock against the leafy native bush backdrop of Tukorehe Reserve. Across the fields there was a small cluster of houses – one with this fabulous billowing clothes line. (I’m not sure why, but I find clothes lines full of washing a very appealing photographic subject). After I had spent a little time here, I drove on through Fitzgerald Glade and, seeing a sign for Tapapa Marae, I swung immediately left off the highway and happily drove down a winding country road. I carried on for miles but I must have driven right past it because I ended up back out on the highway having completed a great big loop….and had to drive all the way back past Ruapeka Marae a second time. It was a fruitless search at one level, but on my two month trip around New Zealand in April-May, I made many detours like that – and I loved every second of it. http://ruapekamarae.wainet.org

A Tuwharetoa Experience

As you head into the Wairakei area near Taupo in the central North Island, the first thing you’ll notice will be the steam – huge, cloud-like billows of it rising from the earth. You’re in heartland geothermal territory here – everything bubbles and steams – and hot pools in the Wairakei area have been used for bathing and as healing spas by tourists and locals since the 19th and 20th centuries. The main bathing pool, Te Kiri o Hinekai, was closed in the 1960s though, when construction began on the massive Wairakei Geothermal Power Development, which now dominates the area. But in 1996 a new tourism venture between Netcor and Contact Energy, saw the original steam piped back to Te Kiri o Hinekai, along with the piping of hot, silica-enriched waters over a manmade structure to create natural silica terraces. The bulk of the terrace construction was carried out in 2001 and now, with the help of nature, the multi-coloured silica terraces are developing well.

At the heart of this whole development are the people of Ngati Tuwharetoa, who have called this area home and used the therapeutic waters of Te Kiri o Hinekai for generations – since the time of the legendary tohunga and great navigator, Ngatoroirangi, from whom the Tuwharetoa are descended. Today you can get an inside peek into Tuwharetoa legends and customs by taking part in the Wairakei Terraces Maori Cultural Experience, which will take you through a replica Maori village and introduce you to the pleasures of the traditional hangi and song and dance performances.
When I was in Taupo in April, I stopped in at Bayview Wairakei Resort, which is diagonally opposite the Wairakei Terraces Maori village. As I was coming out of their driveway, I was lured into the second by the handsome carvings that designate the village’s main entrance. I sadly didn’t have time to stop for the whole experience but I did take these photographs – which included a little peep through the bushes to this divinely cute little wharenui. You can find out much more about this terrific venue by clicking on their website: www.wairakeiterraces.co.nz

Meet the People - 24

Another in the Series Meet the People – Contemporary Maori Doing Ordinary and Extraordinary Things – Alex Nathan (Te Roroa, Ngati Whatua, Ngapuhi) works as a contemporary jeweller, referencing the traditional patterns of his Maori upbringing. Up until the late 1980s, Alex’s background and experience in Maori art had been in the traditional materials of his tipuna (ancestors) – bone, stone, wood and shell. That all changed when he was introduced to Hopi silversmith, Michael Kabotie on a visit to the United States. Since then, he has adopted silver as his preferred artistic medium, although his work continues to reflect and evolving process of adaptation and exploration of the traditional taniko designs (as seen on the intricate woven borders of cloaks and mats), kowhaiwhai (painted rafters) and tukutuku (ornamental lattice work in carved meeting houses). His work has been exhibited in New Zealand and in two shows in Vancouver, Canada in 1999 and 2003. You can see examples of Alex’s silver jewellery by visiting www.spiritwrestler.com His work is listed under Maori artists.

The Tene Waitere Legacy

Maori art is generally considered to be ‘a frontal art’ – that is, the traditional works were designed to be viewed from the front; whereas the less common three-dimensional pieces like these, could be viewed from all angles. That said, even they feature the most detailed artistic expression in the front view. I photographed these fabulous figures at the gates to the Rotorua Museum grounds. It’s a carving style I love and I’m always drawn to the intricate spiral patterns used to depict shoulders and buttocks. I keep meaning to make a concentrated photographic study of these spiral patterns – they come in a wide variety of designs – but I keep forgetting. So much to do, so little time!

These figures stand at the Hinemoa and Arawa Street entrances to the Rotorua museum grounds and I copied the text from a plaque nearby, which I assumed was referring to these carvings. I hope so because here it is: “These carvings were presented by the people of Ngati Whakaue to commemorate their original gift of land in 1880. Hei oranga mo nga iwi katoa a tea o – for the benefit of the people of the world. They were carved by master carver Tene Waitere and they depict tribal ancestors.” I’ve just spent a fascinating hour reading about Tene Waitere (Ngati Tarawhai), who was born near Kaitaia in Northland in 1854 and died in Rotorua in 1931.

He was regarded as one of New Zealand’s most prolific and innovative Maori carvers and his wide range of work – from canoes and meetings houses to walking sticks, tobacco pipes and replicas of traditional artefacts for the growing tourism market - and for royal visitors -in the early 1900s – lives on as some of the finest carving from the time. Many of his carvings were created for and are still at Whakarewarewa Maori Village, where he lived after surviving the Tarawera eruption that descecrated his village of Te Wairoa. His grand-daughter in fact, was the great Rangitiaria, or Guide Rangi as she became known – perhaps the earliest trailblazer for Maori tourism for her work guiding tourists through the famous Pink and White Terraces, which were destroyed by the Tarawera eruption. Waitere's story is an intriguing one and thankfully is well documented. I intend to look out one or two excellent books that detail his life and work. www.rotoruamuseum.co.nz

Coming Soon ........

The posters are up around town - I photographed these in Christchurch this morning - and I'll be bringing more news about this terrific new exhibition at Wellington's Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in the coming days. www.tepapa.govt.nz

Collectible Books

I was out wandering with my camera last weekend (here in Christchurch) when I chanced upon an antiques fair. I paid my $5 entry fee and went in for a look about. There’s nothing I like better than poking about investigating other people’s old cast-offs and I’m always intrigued by the people as much as I am by the goods for sale. This fair was mostly collectible china, silver, jewellery and such; but there was also a huge sale of old books – and I’m nothing if not compulsive when it comes to books. There were at least twenty I wanted but I was most interested in the good-sized selection of old books on things Maori. There were some beauties but most of them were too expensive for me. I did however weaken and I got three – on Maori art, architecture and traditions. I think I might have started a new collection.

Traditional Designs - 11

One Red Velvet Cushion

Soft, Luxurious

A Place for the Heart
September 2009. Ajr

Contemporary Tiki

TIKI

Made for Today

Created by Rotorua's

TOO LUSCIOUS

www.tooluscious.com

Maori Place Names - 29

After Waiapu, East Cape, North Island

Of Film and Marae

It was a pleasant afternoon back in early May when I arrived in the small Hokianga settlement of Whirinaki in the Far North. The first thing that caught my eye were the two cute red-roofed churches – they stand like little beacons all over rural Northland and I love them. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to stop and visit them but I did drive down the road that lead to Whirinaki School, the local kohanga reo (Maori pre-school) and Moria Marae. I didn’t venture anywhere near the marae as the flag was flying and there were people all about. The flag is usually the sign of a tangi (funeral) in progress and I think people deserve privacy at times like that.

I have since discovered that Moria Marae recently hosted the 3rd Hokianga Film Festival, which acknowledged the feature films of the late Barry Barclay, an influential New Zealand filmmaker, theorist and writer, who took part in the 2007 festival.
Barclay was and still is highly regarded within the New Zealand film industry. His television series Tangata Whenua and his feature films The Neglected Miracle, Te Rua, The Feathers of Peace and The Kaipara Affair all cemented him as someone with a unique ability to understand - and capture on film – the essence of Maori community and bicultural New Zealand. I would have enjoyed seeing the 2009 festival with its emphasis on locally-produced material telling local stories. Not only is it a wonderful opportunity for established and aspiring filmmakers to come together to learn and share their skills and knowledge, it also provides an insight into the often unsung heroes of local communities – and within Maori communities there is a richness of story-telling that to my mind, is frequently overlooked. It’s good to see that this festival is well supported by Creative New Zealand, The Film Archive, the New Zealand Film Commission and the Hokianga Community Educational Trust.

Catwalk Creativity

When the 2009 MAORI ART MARKet officially opens in Porirua, near Wellington tonight, guests will get a sneak preview of the fashion show, which will be a daily feature of the market at 12.30 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Along with a number of contemporary Maori weavers, the fashion show will include guest designer Dorothy Grant (USA/Canada) hot off the catwalks of New York Fashion Week; Patricia Michael from USA; and our very own Suzanne Tamaki of the Native Sista’s Label, shown in these two images taken at the 2007 Maori Market fashion show.

Suzanne (Maniapoto, Tuhoe, Te Arawa), is an Otaki-based fibre artist, who founded the Native Sista’s label. She was also a founding member of the Pacific Sisters fashion collective in the mid-1990s. Along with her fashion garments, she also creates body adornment and jewellery inspired by the legends and mythical creatures in the Pacific and the world of traditional indigenous costuming. The end results are dramatic and unique and it’s no surprise to learn that she’s scooped a number of awards and has exhibited her work nationally and internationally – including works in the 12th Sydney Biennale in 2000, the 1996 South Pacific Festival of Arts in Samoa and at Belau Museum during the 2004 South Pacific Arts Festival. Tamaki’s collection Bi-Cultural Rap 2000 (first presented as a fashion show set to rap music) was purchased by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Visitors to this year’s Maori Art Market are in for a treat when Native Sista’s take to the catwalk again. www.maoriarts.org.nz

Maori Murals

I photographed these terrific murals in Gisborne and like several others I've featured here previously, they make strong reference to traditional Maori design motifs. You don't see this proliferation of Maori mural design anywhere else in New Zealand - at least not to the degree that you come upon it in Gisborne and elsewhere in Eastland. It's understandable of course - the whole Eastland/East Cape region has a large Maori population and things Maori are very much alive and well here.

South of Ruatoria

As the door lintel to this marae suggests, this is one of the Ngati Porou marae. Located just south of Ruatoria, perhaps it is THE Ngati Porou Marae - as in the main marae of the iwi. I haven't been able to find out and at the time, I couldn't find a sign on the property. I'm not going to guess beyond that. The Ngati Porou iwi has 53 hapu groups scattered across East Cape and Eastland and if I put the wrong name to this particular marae, I'm sure to offend someone. www.ngatiporou.com

Meet the People - 23

Another in the Series Meet the People – Contemporary Maori Doing Ordinary and Extraordinary Things – Sandy Adsett (Ngati Kahungunu, Ngati Pahauwera), is one of New Zealand’s leading contemporary Maori artists. And as such he is adamant that Maori artists must work first and foremost for their own people. “A Maori has an obligation to the art of his/her people. It’s the people’s art. It doesn’t belong to you,” he has said. “It must identify Maori to Maori if it is going to remain relevant to statements about our tribal beliefs, values and mana (standing) in today’s and tomorrow’s world.” Born in Wairoa on the North Island’s East Coast in 1939, Sandy’s contribution to Maori art has been immense. Quite apart from his own broad art career as painter, carver, weaver, costume and stage designer (designing everything from postage stamps to full scale stage sets for the Royal New Zealand Ballet), he has been instrumental in furthering Maori Visual Arts within the New Zealand school curriculum.

Ever since he became an arts specialist for the Department of Education Advisory Service in the 1960s, helping to introduce the new ‘Maori Arts in Schools’ progamme, he has influenced generations of aspiring artists. In 1993 he was appointed a principal tutor at Tairawhiti Polytechnic in Gisborne; and in 2002 he settled in Hastings – the heart of his Kahungunu tribal roots – where he established the new School of Contemporary Maori Visual Arts, Toimairangi, Te Wananga o Aotearoa. He is a member of Te Atinga, the Committee of Contemporary Maori Visual Arts of Toi Maori Aotearoa and is on the board of Te Waka Toi, Creative New Zealand.
As an artist in his own right, Sandy has exhibited widely throughout New Zealand and in USA, Canada and Australia. His own works have been heavily inspired by traditional kowhaiwhai (rafter patterns in wharenui or meeting houses); and he has always maintained a balance between the contemporary and the traditional in the materials he has chosen to work with. This week (Oct 9, 10, 11), Sandy will be one of the participating artists in the biennial MAORI ART MARKet, which is being staged at Pataka and the Te Rauparaha Events Centre in Porirua, near Wellington. www.maoriarts.org.nz (All images courtesy of Toi Maori Aotearoa).

MAORI ART MARKet Returns

I just know I’m going to be horribly frustrated later this week because a series of already-scheduled meetings here in Christchurch mean that it is unlikely I will make it up to Porirua, near Wellington for the 2009 MAORI ART MARKet. One of my friends went to the 2007 market and said it was fabulous and I’d set my heart of going this time round. I’ll be missing a real showcase of top artworks by more than 60 leading and emerging contemporary Maori artists. Imagine all that creativity in one place – everything from painting, carving, photography and weaving to silver jewellery, clay works, mixed media and Ta Moko (tattoo). An estimated NZ$1-million worth of artwork is predicted to change hands at the event or soon after.
Driven by Toi Maori Aotearoa (Maori Arts New Zealand) and located at Pataka Museum and the newly-opened Te Rauparaha Events Centre on October 9, 10 and 11, the market is a biennial event that has flourished since it was first launched as Maori Arts Meets America in San Francisco in 2005. The concept is based on the highly successful INDIAN MARKET, which began over 80 years ago and is held in Santa Fe every August. As part of the concept, other indigenous artists are also invited to attend and this year, market-goers will have the chance to see the work of renowned Haida Indian fashion designer, Dorothy Grant; contemporary Hopi Indian painter, Dan Namingha; and Tahitian Tlingit sculptor, Dempsey Bob. Invited Pacific artists include Lorene Taurerewa, Michael Tuffery and writer/painter, Albert Wendt. And that’s before we even start on the terrific line-up of Maori artists – many of whom have already established high profiles nationally and internationally, others of whom are just starting out on their creative journey. I’ll be bringing you more about the market – and some of the artists featured there – in the coming days….even if I don’t get there in person. www.maoriarts.org.nz (Both images courtesy Toi Maori Aotearoa).

Searching for Tangaroa

Leading Maori sculptor, Brett Graham (Ngati Koroki Kahukura), opens his Wellington exhibition ‘Searching for Tangaroa’ at Bartley & Company Art tomorrow night, October 6th. It’s his first show in the capital for a number of years – though many Wellingtonians will be familiar with his large public sculpture, Kaiwhakatere, which sits behind Parliament Buildings on Bowen Street. Graham has exhibited extensively – nationally and internationally – over the last decade and he is highly regarded as one of the most exciting and accomplished contemporary Maori sculptors. Although many of his works are not overtly Maori, they are the product of Graham’s interest in “a dual dialogue of Maori and European histories, adhering to the Modernist emphasis on form and material quality.” His concepts and titles though, invariably draw on his Maori heritage. The small illustration here (courtesy of bartley & company art) shows sculptural detail from work in his upcoming Wellington exhibition – a solo show that reflects Graham’s ongoing fascination with water as a cultural site. Searching for Tangaroa explores the convergence of ancient and contemporary beliefs and technologies. He employs high-tech underwater scanners in a mythical quest for the location of Hui te anga nui, the house of the god of the sea and the original site of the carving. As a metaphor for the human search for meaning, the scanners reference a range of issues from the foreshore and seabed act to values systems and religions. Graham has also collaborated with fellow Maori artist, Rachael Rakena, who I featured here a couple of weeks ago. Their collaborative works (Aniwaniwa and UFOB) have attracted significant international attention and have been shown at both the Venice and Sydney Biennales. www.brettgraham.co.nz www.bartleyandcompany.co.nz

On the Peninsular

I thought I'd just run this pretty scenic shot from Port Levy on Banks Peninsular today. Known as Koukourarata in Maori it's home to an idyllically-place Tutehuarewa Marae that sits on the rise just to the left of the land end of this wharf. I've written about Koukourarata a good number of times before and you can see those postings by clicking on the word Koukourarata in the label line below this post. www.ngaitahu.iwi.nz

Market Day

Traditional Piupiu

(skirts)

For Sale at Cathedral Square Market
Christchurch

From the Kete Files

One Small Kete

Decorated with Shell

Hanging by the Door

Cockle Cook-Up

Matenga Taiaroa told me he had been gathering tuaki (cockles) on the Otago Peninsular near Dunedin from the time he could first walk. He’d lived close to the Otakou Marae for 73 years and he’d always considered tuaki an integral part of his diet. He still gathers them – “once a fortnight at least” – and puts them in a bowl in the microwave for a minute, (“just to release the muscle”) and then he eats them raw. It’s the way he’s always known. I visited Otakou Marae on the Otago Peninsular for Ngai Tahu’s TE KARAKA magazine a couple of years ago. It was a cloudy day but we had all the fun we always did on these kai feature visits to the various South Island runanga.

“When we were kids we’d take a bucket down to the harbour at low tide to gather tuaki for the whanau and we’d always crack a few open and eat them there and then,” Matenga said. He was one of six children and whoever was around had the job of digging for cockles. He taught his own two children to do the same. Tuaki, or cockles as they are commonly known to the locals, are actually New Zealand Littleneck Clams (Austrovenus stutchburyi). They are the single most abundant large invertebrate animal found in inter-tidal sand flats in sheltered harbours and estuaries throughout New Zealand. They have been an important food source for Muaupoko (Otago Peninsular) Maori for generations and their shells have commonly been found in centuries-old middens. The area was speckled with many kaik (villages) and Pukekura (Taiaroa Head) was an important fortified pa. From early times the peninsular provided a wealth of resources – from tuaki and seals to fish and birdlife.
Sitting on a wide bench seat outside Otakou Marae, overooking the ocean and village below, Matenga Taiaroa talked about his great-grandfather, who walked the same soil, and he was proud of the fact that his family still owned land on the peninsular. “We’re the caretakers here; that’s what I like – the sense of continuity through generations and the fact that we have always only ever taken what we need from the land and sea,” he told me. That day the Otakou team sat down to cockle feast by then-executive chef of Blanket Bay, Ngai Tahu chef, Jason Dell. They were presented with risotto with spinach and parmesan cheese; steamed cockles with linguini and garden vegetables; grilled cockles with pancetta, garlic and herb crumbs; and cockle chowder with kumara and assorted vegetables. It was a far cry from the simplicity of raw, or plain steamed tuaki but the men were enthusiastic about their introduction to new flavours. With paradise ducks honking in the background and steely grey clouds creeping across the cold winter skies, they worked their way through Jason’s modern take on a traditional favourite with happy gusto. www.ngaitahu.iwi.nz

Architectural Details

Traditional Carvings

Etched Glass

Architectural Details

Old and New

Waikato, North Island

Maori Place Names - 28

Beside the Awatere River near Te Araroa

Eastland, North Island