Maori Art and Carvings

Tumatauenga, the Maori War God, was symbolized in the form of an upright human competing against oneself and the elements.

Maori art is a renowned and distinctive subset of a wider Polynesian art tradition. It is one of the most distinguishing characteristics of Maori culture and is now also an integral part of defining a broader New Zealand identity and “brand” on the world stage.

Art permeated many aspects of traditional Maori culture. Probably its most well known feature was its distinctive carved meeting houses, but it also included a very comprehensive and extensive weaving tradition, canoe making, jewelry, moko (tattoo), as well a huge range of utilitarian items that also became pieces of art in their own right.

The broader Polynesian art tradition is thought to have developed largely out of an ancestral tradition called Lapita. Best known for its pottery, there are remarkable similarities between the decorations applied to the pots and later Polynesian art designs. The pots themselves may have been different, but the pot decoration style was transferred more or less intact to virtually all later Polynesian cultures. The decorations consisted of highly structured rectilinear designs that were impressed into the wet clay of the pots before they were fired. These same designs are still found today in Polynesian tattooing and weaving, including Maori designs in New Zealand.

Another carving of a Maori God with its tongue sticking out fiercly.

The main element that sets Maori art apart from the other Polynesian traditions is the addition of the distinctive “curvilinear” style that is best seen on carved buildings. The predominant design feature is the double spiral or koru and there are many variations of it. Maori art is thus characterized by a predominantly curvilinear design tradition that also still includes some aspects of the more "Polynesian” rectilinear tradition.

Tekoteko figure, usually found on the gable apex structure of a Maori meeting house to ward away evil spirits.

The question about why the curvilinear tradition became highly developed in New Zealand is probably best understood in terms of the landscape and environment of New Zealand compared to other parts of Polynesia. New Zealand offered a much broader range of raw materials to work with than any other part of Polynesia, and must also have provided much more stimulus for the artists as well. Even simple utilitarian items received artistic embellishment well beyond what was needed to make them functional tools. Thus a humble fish hook often became a highly polished and beautifully carved implement to be used for a relatively mundane activity. In this way art became an integral part of the means of expressing and displaying status and wealth among and between communities.

After the arrival of Europeans in New Zealand, Maori art flourished with the arrival of better metal carving tools and other new materials and ideas to influence design and artistic inspiration. Buildings and canoes in particular therefore became much bigger and more ornately carved, as did wooden storage facilities. Today, Maori art continues to develop and thrive as part of a much wider New Zealand art tradition. New materials and designs are constantly being developed to ensure that Maori art will survive and increase in the broader New Zealand art scene indefinitely.