AN ANCIENT ART

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 36, 12 February 1936, Page 12

AN ANCIENT ART

PANELS FOR MAORI

HOUSE

WOMEN AT WORK

There are engaged at the Dominion Museum eight Maori ladies, who are making panels to go between the carvings at the Maori House, which is to be placed in the Maori Hall at the National Museum. The ladies are Mrs. Matenga, Mrs. Wickham, Mrs. and Miss Te Hana, Mrs. and Miss Heketa, Miss Paipa, and Miss Tahiwi. These ladies Were selected by Sir Apirana Ngata as being the most expert to undertake the plaiting of the design work known as tuku tuku. Work of this nature has only occasionally been attempted on a large scale in New Zealand since the advent of the white man. Unfortunately, modern European designs have sometimes crept into the old Maori work, and Sir Apirana intends the Maori House in the museum to be a model for similar structures throughout the country. He has therefore selected the panel designs' with great care, and the plaiting work is being carried out under his direction, though actually the ladies are attached to the museum staff. These designs are made in three colours—black, white, and yellow. Native materials only are being used, pingao, a strong yellow grass, and kie kie. The pingao came from the vicinity of Otaki, and the kie kie from the Bay of Plenty. The ladies sit, stand, or squat, according to the portion of the panel being worked, on opposite sides of the large frames on which the designs are made. One makes the design, and the other ties the fabric on the other side of the panel. It is interesting to watch the deft 'fingers at work,-weaving the materials into vertical and transverse reeds; The vertical reeds are called kotaho, and are the stems of the flowering toe toe, while the transverse slats are of dark brown tinted timber. Records of the patterns and methods employed are being made by Mr. W. J. Phfflipps. of the museum staff, and photographs of the panels are being kept for future use. Nearly all the Maori ladies employed have had considerable experience on the Otaki Maori House, which is being opened very shortly. At the work they sing Maori songs, with occasional relaxational interludes provided by gramophone, and many visitors passing the Maori workshop in ' Sydney Street have collected at the open door to watch fascinated. Unfortunately, it has been found necessary, to admit only selected visitors to obtain a near view of the operations, as the work demands a considerable amount of concentration, and moreover the ladies themselves feel more comfortable without that feeling which nobody really-en-joys of_ somebody standing behind while at work. One of .these panels is to be used between each carving round the walls of the Maori House, and in this way thirteen will be used on each side, and eight at each end, . the latter being slightly taller than those round the sides. The Maori House itself has been stored in the Dominion Museum almost since it existed. The carvings are on totara, so that there is not much risk of borer. They are painted red, and though modern paint has been used instead of the old Maori pigments, the effect is said to be very similar. • The house itself is the Turanga House from Poverty Bay, and is probably the finest example of genuine old Maori work extant. The barge boards, to use the modern term, of this house were missing when the house was acquired, and they have been replaced by ones carved by Mr. T. Heberley. They are very artistically executed, representing some of the finest work Mr. Heberley has carried out. Each' panel has a name, the origin of which is somewhat obscure in some cases. One, a diamond-shaped design, is named "the flounder," another is "little stars," and in this one the whole space is filled, in with small white crosses, which show up well on the dark transverse slats. Still another panel name, somewhat hard to interpret to the white man, is "albatross tears." These forty-two names, together with much that will puzzle world visitors to this historic house, will doubtless be explained in the guide book to the Maori House. A glimpse at some of the older carvings shows the value of this collection. The poles fop carrying the ridgepole of the house are massive examples of wonder-fully-executed carving, and some of the older carved figures which will find their place in the Maori Hall are remarkable for the sinister cast of face and expression.