MAORI ART SCHOOL

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21391, 6 February 1935, Page 14

MAORI ART SCHOOL

PROPOSAL TO RAISE FUND * A suggestion that the people of Christchurch and the Maoris of Tuahiwi should combine to organise a function to raise £IO,OOO to be used in the city and among the Maoris was made by Mr Te Ari Pitama, at a social held in honour of the Mayor, city councillors, and organisers of the Duke's river carnival in the Tuahiwi Hall last evening. . Mr Pitama said the Government would perhaps subsidise the money raised. The Maoris would ask for £IOOO. "If this scheme were adopted, a Maori art school could be established,!' Mr Pitama said, "and what could be more beautiful than a model pa on the banks of the Avon? That would be an attraction for the tourists." He referred to Lord Bledisloe's gift to the nation of the Waitanga estate as an example of the desire which existed in the hearts of many men to preserve Maori art and tradition. When he was replying to the speeches of welcome, the Mayor, Mr D. G. Sullivan, said he attached great importance to preserving Maori art and culture, and he was sure the councillors supported him. He could not imagine a greater tragedy than the loss to New Zealand of the native art and culture. He was much afraid that in recent years there had been a trend in the wrong direction—children had been growing up with no knowledge of their own lnaguage and customs. It was a source of great satisfaction to know that there had been a revival of native instruction among the children of Tuahiwi.