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Māori Art and the importance of identity within story telling.

A newly formed understand on the concept of cultural appropriation within New Zealand’s art sector.

Abstract

Māori are the indigenous people of New Zealand who were colonised by Pākehā, who are now appropriating and profiting from a culture they oppressed. Kiwiana is used to create an identity for Pākehā, who have also twisted Māori to be a part of their newfound identity. Biculturalism is a critical aspect to New Zealand, and identity is vital to Māori culture. I will be exploring traditional Māori patterns, including Tānoki and Kōwhaiwhai and how they can be brought to modern-day life within figurative illustrations to tell stories of my whakapapa and identity. I will be focusing on using watercolour, paint, and digital media to create mixed media pieces that represent culture, traditions, and identity. Furthermore, I will put my understanding of respect and traditions into a practice that is not yet distinct.

“Inā kei te mohio koe ko wai koe, I anga mai koe I hea, kei te mohio koe. Kei te anga atu ki hea.” “If you know who you are and where you are from, then you will know where you are going.”

Contextual knowledge

Sheep, rugby balls, gumboots, the buzzy bee, as well as kiwifruit and hokey pokey ice cream are among the many things that are recognised as kiwi classics and have since been termed "Kiwiana" (Bell, 2012). Kiwiana is a collection of materials associated with being "kiwi" (Neill, 2018). Kiwi is an identity associated with New Zealand, which allows us to represent aspects of our Kiwiana culture. Kiwiana is significant to New Zealanders because it brings up various experiences for us, such as enjoying a hokey pokey ice cream with the whānau and picking up our fish and chips in our gumboots. It also distinguishes us from the rest of the world and gives Pākehā an identity of their own (Neill, 2018).

Lindsay Neill argues in her thesis that “if Kiwiana reflects being Pākehā, why isn't it called Pākehā-ana, when it is all Pākehā related materials?” From her thesis, we can form an opinion that using the term Kiwiana and not Pākehā-ana enables us to label a broader range of significant cultural assets as central to the Kiwi identity. As a result, Māoriana has become a subgenre of Kiwiana that is seen to the rest of the world as "New Zealand classics" (Bell, 2012). These classics are representative of Māori cultural assets and create a profitable sector from an underprivileged culture (Neill, 2018). Māori are not afforded the same opportunities or advantages since being colonised by Europeans, who are now appropriating and profiting from the culture they oppressed. For example, Dick Frizzel’s Tiki series seeks to make meaning of Pākehā identity and works closely with the notion of being kiwi to sit within the lines of biculturalism (Kenny, 2016), he works with tiki thinking that because he lives here and is "kiwi," the tiki is for anybody and everyone to utilise, profiting from cultural theft (Taylor, 2017).

Biculturalism is a vital part of New Zealand's history, and Māori art forms play a significant role in this. It does not involve being racially unaware , purchasing a two-dollar plastic tiki or being culturally disrespectful to traditional Māori practises. It involves embracing culture, customs, and traditional art forms - learning and practising. To reconnect with your whakapapa and immerse yourself in a culture that your whakapapa may have been deprived of. Waiho i te toipoto, kaua i te toiroa, let us keep close together, not wide apart. To understand any of the basic elements of Māori identity, it is necessary to disengage a Pākehā worldview. Lindsay states that while Māori are frequently described as a collectivist culture, with spiritual aspects and mana, these ideas do not truly represent all Māori identities; however, the concept of connection and whanaungatanga is important to the wellbeing of Māori people (Neill, 2018).

Growing up in New Zealand, Kiwiana was always a massive part of my life. I feel I was highly unaware of cultural appropriation in the context of art and Kiwiana in general. I established and developed my understanding of how culture and Kiwiana should interact based on a combination of readings and personal observations of the issue. I feel Māoriana should not be regarded as a subgenre of Kiwiana in order to benefit Pākehā. Māori culture is vital to a flourishing Aotearoa. However, it is its own culture that should not be reduced to fit into the notion of Pākehā establishing their own identity. In terms of the future of my design works, I would like to produce work that upholds the mana and respect of Māori culture and my whakapapa and culturally acceptable pieces.

Methods

Figurative art is an art movement that can refer to any piece of art that silhouettes the human figure; it is predominately shown after the early twentieth century (National Galleries Scotland , sourced - 14/10/21). This is because Māori woodcarving was purposefully revived to reflect the increasing desire for a national Māori identity in contrast to the dominating colonisation of European settlers (Webster, 1995). Figurative illustration may be explored through various design methods; however, I will be focusing on the process of getting to a final piece of artwork within digital illustration, painting, watercolours and mixed media. The process of creating is just as necessary as the end piece because an individual can take their processes in a variety of directions. The initial step would be to brainstorm and rough sketch all ideas before looking for extensive inspiration - this is to let my brain run wild first. The process follows to then pull it up on an iPad in procreate, laptop in illustrator or begin to paint using watercolours or acrylic to determine then which method will be of best use or whether it is best to attempt all three. The work I am producing must represent myself as identity is the most significant component of design.

I'm interested in working with Māori patterns, Tāniko and Kōwhaiwhai to explore how they can function within digital and analogue art pieces and evolve with the creative process to produce culturally sensitive artwork within the space of figurative illustration.

Tāniko designs reflect significant Te Ao Māori history, concepts, and values. Tāniko is a weaving technique yet is used through many modern art forms in the modern world. The four most commonly used patterns include;

Waharua Kopiti, vertically paired diamond shapes, translates to a point where people or events cross.

Aronui; triangular patterns refer to the pursuit of knowledge about the natural world.

Aramoana; horizontal zigzags, the pathway to the sea, through waterways that lead to many destinations.

Tukemata; notched zigzag pattern, various meanings (Evans & Ngarimu, 2007)

Kōwhaiwhai is a Māori motif that tells tales and offers a means to connectedness; kōwhaiwhai is frequently found in wharenui's sharing the history of the meeting house and whānau who whakapapa back there. Kōwhaiwhai was initially a more straightforward design that included repetition and symmetrical patterns and kept to traditional principles. In the current day, kōwhaiwhai has evolved into more figurative and non-symmetrical patterns, Yet it is still focused on the traditional concept of narrating stories.

Justina Maku Bisset is renowned for producing watercolour based pieces that reflect her identity by incorporating both Tāniko and Kōwhaiwhai. Her creations generate warmth inside me as her pieces tell stories and explore the concept of whanaungatanga and being connected back to her roots. Because a sense of identity is important to me, I find I relate to her pieces, and I find her watercolours calming and relaxing and connect to them myself. She uses watercolours in layers to add depth to her work and then goes over it with an art pen, where she then incorporates Tāniko through elements of her work.

Sofia Minson is an indigenous painter recognised for combining modern ideas with whakapapa and producing meaningful artworks. She uses a range of Tāniko and kōwhaiwhai in her works to tell stories and embrace cultural concepts with respect. She is recognised for having an ever-changing creative process in which her developments vary from her original concept and frequently include traditions via her self-understanding. Sofia's art style alternates between art deco, victorian, classic, and modern elements. I admire how her work can shift from one direction to another while still retaining her personality and overall style.

Totaea is a digital graphic artist who makes artworks inspired by New Zealand and Māori culture. He uses strong colours and patterns and overlapping blocks and lines, which engages the viewer and stands out to me. Totaea's digital art style appeals to me because his lines and curves are all clean, and his colours contrast nicely and create an almost mild pop art atmosphere.

I hope to create art pieces that combine various design approaches, particularly during the creative and brainstorming stages in my future design journey. I want to start working in a mixed medium setting combining computer illustration, painting, and watercolours to merge my different interests. To take mixed media a step further, I want to bring traditional patterns such a Tānoki and Kōwhaiwhai into modern-day practises and work with them through my understanding, telling my own stories through my whakapapa. I want my work to resemble a figurative silhouette that includes aspects of abstract styles and create an overwhelming creative process that I can continue to work on through many different stages.

Conclusion

Through readings, in-depth study on certain themes, and the observations of other artists, I am able to form my own opinion and understanding of New Zealand culture and what it means to be a Kiwi. I can comfortably understand the significance of maintaining traditional Māori practises in a space that is attentive to culturally sensitive concepts. My newly formed understanding of Māori practises, whakapapa, and mana used within Māori patterns of Tānoki and Kōwhaiwhai creates an interesting next step in my design journey regarding how I will incorporate these designs into my current knowledge. My in-depth observations of how other artists incorporate Māori aspects into their work to tell stories and share their experiences and whakapapa have led me to my thoughts and ideas. I'm interested in how I can bring their methods of watercolours, paintwork and digital illustration computer-based design into one piece to create and work within a mixed-media design setting. Working in a mixed media context has always sparked my curiosity since I believe the possibilities are limitless, especially during the creative process when you can explore many inspirations. You can work with a variety of different mediums to get a variety of effects and finished creations. I'd like to do more research in a practice-led design space on how the idea of figurative illustrations can work with Tāniko and kōwhaiwhai. I'd like to begin to create a more extensive piece of work and work with how the idea of storytelling and whakapapa can be linked through a figurative silhouette to create in-depth pieces that tell stories within their being. I hope my techniques, concepts, and practices will lead to a modern-day application of Māori art traditions to produce contemporary pieces that combine various methods and combinations of culturally respectful factors and individual identity into a practice that is not yet distinct and pieces with new visual iconography.

“Every great design begins with an even better story.”

Lorinda Mamo

References

Bell, C. (2012). Kiwiana goes upmarket: Vernacular mobilization in the new century. Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, 278.

Evans, M., & Ngarimu, R. (2007). The Art of Maori Weaving. Retrieved from He Ao Kotahi.

Kenny, L. (2016, March 20). Intersections: Maori — Pakeha. Retrieved from Liv Kenny: https://medium.com/@livkenney/intersections-maori-pakeha-f14a317526dc

National Galleries Scotland . (sourced - 14/10/21). Figurative art. Retrieved from National Galleries Scotland : https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/glossary-terms/figurative-art

Neill, L. (2018). In what ways do Kiwi identity and kiwiana hold relevance for non-Pākehā migrant communities? Auckland: Auckland University of Technology.

Taylor, L. (2017, November 22). Tricky Dick: A Review of 'Something to Behold! Retrieved from The Pantograph Punch: https://pantograph-punch.com/posts/review-tricky-dick-frizzell

Webster, S. (1995). Reviewed Work(s): Painted Histories: Early Maori Figurative Painting by Roger Neich. Sydney: Wiley on behalf of Oceania Publications, University of Sydney.

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