NEW MUSEUM

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 83, 7 April 1936, Page 12

NEW MUSEUM

MOVING OPERATIONS

FINE MAORI EXHIBITS

CARVER AT WORK

Although only,a.week has elapsed since moving operations were, commenced at the old museum, a large proportion of the bulky exhibits have now been stored in the new Dominion Museum in readiness lor The transference of some of the exhibits is a delicate work, and many of them, such as butterflies, insects, preserved specimens of sea and land life, fragile china and woodwork, will be left to the last.

For a, long time the museum staff has been engaged in packing the exhibits ready for the move, and since Monday of last week men and lorries have been busy transferring them to their new home. It will be some time before the last of the exhibits leaves the old building.

Most of the Maori exhibits, including the large canoes, are already at the Dominion Museum, and Mr. T. Heberly, the well-known carver on the museum staff, is now installed in his new quarters. The fact that so far all the exhibits have arrived in good order reflects great credit on those responsible for the packing and moving of them. It is impossible to say how long it will take to arrange the exhibits in the new museum, but judging from the experience of the Auckland Museum it will take several months.

Believing that the Maori exhibits should be the main feature of the new Museum, the authorities arranged a year or two ago for the renovation and repair of such, exhibits as needed it, and fora long time Mr. Heberly was engaged on this work. Colour may have faded or a small piece of carving broken.off, but Mr. Heberly's skilled hands have restored the articles to their former condition. This craftsman, who was responsible for the intricate and impressive carving on the large .Maori canoes which' will be a feature of the Maori display, is at present carving portions of patakas, or food houses, which, will be . erected near: the Maori Hall.. During the past few years, he has carved many dozens of feet of totara with nothing but a steel chisel. His work, which is representative of the best of Maori carving, will find a prominent place in the museum. . . . • VALUABLE CARVINGS. A few years ago Mr. Heberly visited Waitara to investigate further the matter of Taranaki Maori carvings, and he brought back with him four very remarkable pieces of work which encouraged him to think that the first school of carving among the Maori people originated in the Taranaki district. Included among the samples are pares (carved for placing over doorways and windows) and a slab of pataka. All of the carvings were retrieved from the swamps around Waitara. The greatest insult which conquering tribes could offer to the vanquished was to tear down the carvings and treat them contemptuously, so that; if defeat was certain, as had been the case once in Taranaki when the Waikatos were on the warpath,' all carvings would be torn down by the tribe themselves and thrown into swamps. Mr. Heberly believes that the Waitara swamps, if thoroughly searched, would reveal many more carvings of as much interest and great antiquity as those at present in the museum. The old Maori carving was looked upon as a sacred art, which could not be taught in the ordinary way, because the desire for the art was supposed to be inherent. The course of instruction in the old days, ■ though simple, was strikirigly effective. The young aspirant interviewed a tohunga, who ordered his immediate isolation for a period of some five or six months; The instruction proper commenced with the teaching of Maori songs and incantations appropriate to the art, dwelling upon the meaning of almost every word, the mind of the pupil being trained to see only the subject set before him. No attempt was made to do any actual carving, yet at the end of the period the young man, aged in thought, left his teacher, not a schooled, but an inspired carver. I

In the past only the barbaric side of the art was known; the beautiful decorative designs which were a' reflection of Maori genius were not understood. Carving, painting, and weaving were really used as means by which the story of each tribe might be told. Each design was a story—the soul of romance of Native life. The land in which they were born and lived, and its natural beauty, were important factors in the creation of designs. . : ; '