MAORI ART

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 105, 5 May 1915, Page 10

MAORI ART

TO THS EDITOR. Sir, —l feel somewhat diffident' irt raising my voice against such cognoscenti as Mr. Best and Dr. Newman are on_ tho above topic; still I have my opinions, possibly erroneous, but perhaps of interest to some people. Doth of the above; named gentlemen, who are well'known authorities on the subject, 'seemed to bo of opinion that Maori art would 'not survive, and was indeed already degenerate. I was unfortunately unable to be present at the meeting of the Philosophical Society when this topic catno up for discussion, so am only guided by your report of proceedings. Possibly I may bo wrong, but the reason, to my way of thinking, why Maori ' art has exerted no influence as yet in New Zealand is probably because art of any kind is only in its itifanoy here. We are supposed to be too busy (to attend to such expensive luxuries as art and literature. Wo are also supposed to be a rough, primitivo race of pioneers, engaged, in a struggle with the wilderness. Perhaps in about fifty years' time there will be a revival in AJiiori art and an increase in study of other arts in New Zealand. The Dominiou Museum will then be a rioh source of inspiration to our future artists and craftsmen. Another reason why ideas are not applied here as they are in the older lands in Europe is the cost of manufacture. Were the same facilities offered hero for cheap manufacture that exist in England, thousands of ideaa would materialise that now lie dormant. lam referring now to architecture and craftsmanship, two spheres in which Maori art may yet play a big part in New Zealand. The Maori danceß, etc., in a more or losb correct form are safe in the keeping of the Maori people, and will last os long as they do. It does not j matter a great deal whether a dance is mathematically correot or not to the average spectator, aa long ' as the spirit of the thing is there; the tempo, rhythm, and graceful motion aro a part of the i Maori nature, in these degenerate doys, ] as in ancient times. " The old order j ohangeth, giving place to the new," is a law that must be obeyed in this es in many other spheres' of activity, and it is too ruuoh to expect ancient arts and customs suoh as are embodied in Maori art' to persist unchanged under' modern conditions. Maori art .should be encouraged, and would then give a distinctive tone to New Zealand life and thus form an appropriate setting from which the other arts could develop and gain considerably by contrast. _ I hope these remarks Ijy an amateur artist .will not be thought presumptuous.—l am, ■ etc., QUIZZICUS.