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Te Maori
Te Maori (or sometimes Te Māori in modern sources) was a landmark exhibition of Māori art (taonga) that toured the United States from 1984 to 1986, and New Zealand as Te Maori: Te Hokinga Mai ('the return home') from 1986 to 1987.
Te Māori was the first time Māori art had been exhibited internationally in an art context instead of as part of ethnographic collections. The involvement of tangata whenua and iwi throughout the exhibition process had an impact on the development of museum practices in New Zealand and globally in regard to Indigenous and source community authority. The exhibition and its subsequent effects on the cultural landscape in New Zealand were considered a milestone in the Māori renaissance.
Since the first contact between Māori and Pākehā, Maori social and cultural objects were traded, taken and collected for inclusion in private collections and museums. Among taonga collected were human remains.
Reflective of museums at the time, these objects were collected, catalogued and displayed ethnographically, misrepresenting Māori and displaying them and their culture as a part of natural history rather than creators of culture that might be exhibited in an artistic context. Tamaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum holds a large collection of Māori taonga which historically followed an ethnographic framework to catalogue and display material culture. This approach is being challenged and revitalised through a mātauranga Māori approach that looks at the collection through a Māori lens.
Until the late twentieth century museum visitors and staff were unlikely to be Māori, and taonga were interpreted in the light of Western intellectual frameworks. One such example was a museum display of human remains, 'mokamokai' (now referred to as toi moko; preserved heads of Māori, whose faces had been adorned with tā moko). Displaying human remains of this kind was popular in Western museums, which Māori found both 'disappointing' and 'culturally insensitive.' Repatriation processes are now in place in many museums to return these ancestors home to New Zealand.
In 1896,[dubious – discuss] Māori activist, Hana Te Hemara, organised the Kakahu Fashion Project, which ran fashion shows with Maori designers alongside the Te Maori: Te Hokinga Mai exhibitions in New Zealand. This was widely considered a more humanising display and celebration of Māori culture.
Outside of a museum context, the Māori renaissance had already begun, driven by leaders including Āpirana Ngata and the Māori Women's Welfare League. Many traditional crafts, including carving, tukutuku and kowhaiwhai, were being revived, along with the Māori language.
The idea of a major exhibition of Māori artworks that would tour the United States was first raised in 1973 by Douglas Newton, Evelyn A. J. Hall and John A Friede from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, alongside Paul Cotton, the New Zealand Consul General in New York. Though the idea was well-received, including by New Zealand Prime Minister Norman Kirk, delays were caused by Kirk's passing and a general lack of funding for the project.
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Te Maori
Te Maori (or sometimes Te Māori in modern sources) was a landmark exhibition of Māori art (taonga) that toured the United States from 1984 to 1986, and New Zealand as Te Maori: Te Hokinga Mai ('the return home') from 1986 to 1987.
Te Māori was the first time Māori art had been exhibited internationally in an art context instead of as part of ethnographic collections. The involvement of tangata whenua and iwi throughout the exhibition process had an impact on the development of museum practices in New Zealand and globally in regard to Indigenous and source community authority. The exhibition and its subsequent effects on the cultural landscape in New Zealand were considered a milestone in the Māori renaissance.
Since the first contact between Māori and Pākehā, Maori social and cultural objects were traded, taken and collected for inclusion in private collections and museums. Among taonga collected were human remains.
Reflective of museums at the time, these objects were collected, catalogued and displayed ethnographically, misrepresenting Māori and displaying them and their culture as a part of natural history rather than creators of culture that might be exhibited in an artistic context. Tamaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum holds a large collection of Māori taonga which historically followed an ethnographic framework to catalogue and display material culture. This approach is being challenged and revitalised through a mātauranga Māori approach that looks at the collection through a Māori lens.
Until the late twentieth century museum visitors and staff were unlikely to be Māori, and taonga were interpreted in the light of Western intellectual frameworks. One such example was a museum display of human remains, 'mokamokai' (now referred to as toi moko; preserved heads of Māori, whose faces had been adorned with tā moko). Displaying human remains of this kind was popular in Western museums, which Māori found both 'disappointing' and 'culturally insensitive.' Repatriation processes are now in place in many museums to return these ancestors home to New Zealand.
In 1896,[dubious – discuss] Māori activist, Hana Te Hemara, organised the Kakahu Fashion Project, which ran fashion shows with Maori designers alongside the Te Maori: Te Hokinga Mai exhibitions in New Zealand. This was widely considered a more humanising display and celebration of Māori culture.
Outside of a museum context, the Māori renaissance had already begun, driven by leaders including Āpirana Ngata and the Māori Women's Welfare League. Many traditional crafts, including carving, tukutuku and kowhaiwhai, were being revived, along with the Māori language.
The idea of a major exhibition of Māori artworks that would tour the United States was first raised in 1973 by Douglas Newton, Evelyn A. J. Hall and John A Friede from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, alongside Paul Cotton, the New Zealand Consul General in New York. Though the idea was well-received, including by New Zealand Prime Minister Norman Kirk, delays were caused by Kirk's passing and a general lack of funding for the project.