Monotype - The Maori Culture

Maori Carving

Wood carving has an important place in Maori culture and art. It is an important material in Maori culture that helped them travel across the Pacific ocean from the Samoan Islands to now New Zealand. As a result the canoe (Waka) is a special and heavily used motif. Wood is used throughout their culture and will become one of the focal points for the typographic campaign.

Wood carvings are seen on 

• Canoes
• Wharenui which is the building called for Marae (Maori meeting places)
• Taiaha (weapons) 
• Precious adornments
• Tools
• Musical instruments 
• Decorative panels 

The art of carving wood is called Whakairo Rakau. They carve their wooden designs with tools made from greenstone. Each carving explains cultural traditions and tribal history.

Some of the Maori carving symbols

• Tiki - According to legends tiki was the first man on earth who originated from the stars. Stands for fertility, the frequently occurring hands placed on the loins is a direct reference to fertility. Tiki is a good luck charm meant to keep evil spirits away.
• Manaia - The manaia symbolizes a mythical being with a bird’s head a human body and fish tail. Manaia is considered the messenger between the Gods and mortals.
• Koru - Koru is the Maori word for “bight” or “loop” and refers to new shoots of the silver fern. The spiral shaped koru design is derived from this unfolding silver fern frond. The unfurling frond itself is symbolic for new life, new beginnings, hope, perfection, personal growth, purity, nurturing, and peace.
• Matau - Originally the Maori have been fishermen. Their main food source was the sea so a fish hook of high quality was a valuable item to posses. The Maori fish hook symbol refers to being dependent on the sea for their food gathering. The matau is a talisman for good luck.
• Pikorua - refers to eternal emerging paths in life. The eight-shaped single twist symbolizes the strength of the bond between two people, their loyalty and friendship. It signifies the spiritual merger of two people for eternity.

Maori Tattoos

The Maori tattoos are meant to reflect Whakapapa (ancestry) and personal history of the person. In Maori culture, Tā moko (tattoo) permanently marks the body and face by carving the skin, which leaves it with grooves rather than a smooth surface. It is done by uhi (chisels) rather than punctured. 

The inks that were used by Maori were made from all natural products. Burnt wood was used to create black pigments; while lighter pigments were derived from caterpillars infected with a certain type of fungus, or from burnt kauri gum mixed with animal fat. No tattoos are alike, which should be reflected on the campaign. The tools for carving are made from shark teeth, sharpened bone or sharp stones. 

Because the tattoos are so symbolic, each area of the face has a specific meaning and is used to communicate certain meanings. These descriptions can be used as a poster design. Educating the public on the symbolism of Maori tattoos.

Maori weaving

Ornamental lattice-work between upright slabs of the walls in a traditional house - Tukutuku

The Maori name is Raranga. The art form is seen on Kākahu (woven cloaks) where the Maori had to protect themselves from the colder climate of New Zealand and is indicative of an elders rank. 

Tāniko is a method of decorative weaving, used to decorate the borders of garments, or for bodices, headbands and armbands. The Māori included wool, silk and cotton in tāniko after Europeans arrived.

Tukutuku is a type of weaving mostly used to adorn the inside walls of meeting houses. Toetoe stems are set side by side, with wooden strips lashed in front. Coloured patterns are made by lacing through strips of pīngao or kiekie.

Whāriki is a plaiting technique used to make floor mats, also called whāriki. Raranga is a weaving style used for rourou (food baskets), kete (bags) and other small objects. Whiri is a braiding technique and whatu is an off-loom finger-weaving method, which produces strips of material for headbands, belts and ropes. Kupenga (fishing nets), crayfish pots and hīnaki (eel traps) were also made.

Maori Legends

Māui - demigod 

Mount Hikurangi is the first place in the world to greet the sun according to Maori culture. On this mountain top there are 9 carved Whakairo sculptures depicting Māui and his whanau (family). The centrepiece represents Maui himself, while the other eight carvings are positioned to mark the points of the traditional compass. The North Island is representative of the biggest fish he caught while sailing and the mountain top symbolising the top of the fish. The South Island is his canoe.

Lord of the Forest

Tāne Mahuta is a giant kauri tree that name means Lord of the Forest in English. According to Maori legend, Tāne is the son of Ranginui the sky father and Papatuanuku the earth mother. Tāne separates his parents from their marital embrace until his father the sky is high above mother earth. In doing so created the world of light (Te Ao Mārama) we live in today. Tāne then sets about clothing his mother with vegetation. The birds and the trees of the forest are regarded as Tāne’s children.

Pai kea - the whale rider

Paikea is an ancestor of Ngāi Tahu and Ngāti Porou, the Māori tribes in the South Island and east coast of New Zealand's North Island. Paikea is the name assumed by Kahutia-te-rangi because he was assisted by a whale such as a tohora (southern right whale) or paikea (humpback whales) to survive an attempt on his life by his half-brother Ruatapu. The story represents the spiritual bond between the human and natural worlds, and the potential revealed when nature is respected rather than exploited.

                                                                                                                                                                  

The aspects of Maori culture listed here are important and recognisable identifiers for people who are unfamiliar with the people. It represents the different areas of the Maori culture to display on the campaign.