MAORI ART.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20324, 3 August 1929, Page 1 (Supplement)

MAORI ART.

BY MATANGA.

ON THE ROAD TO RECOVERY.

Tho disputants about Ponga and Puliihuia, tho enthusiasts bent on reviving native handicrafts, and oven tho folk concerned about tho War Memorial Museum, aro all in their soveral wi\ys " doing their bit" to awaken present-day New Zealand to the fact that tho old-timo Maori was an artist.. There is not tho slightest occasion to falter in that descrip tion o) him ho was an artist to his fingor-tips. and. for tho mattei of that, to his toe-tips and tongue-tip It may bo honestly claimed for him that in ono respect he excelled civilised peoples—appreciation of art with him was general It was not tho pioud cult of only a few highbrows Of course, ho had his experts —tho men whose care for the arts was a sacred calling. They were the repositories ot tho cherished culturo the keepers of the standard; but the whole people venerated tho standard, and in theii way acted up to it Among civi lised peoples tho rule runs differently. tho amount of care that most ol them take about art is seen in tho fact that many an artist starves to death in neg loot. On tho other hand, tho artist among the Maoris of yore was always a priviloged and protected person. He was held m general esteem No doubt some of his kind took good care, foi they were quito human, to maintain their prestige. Tho linking of thoir art with superstitiou and magic enabled them to lord it over the rest of folk, i,ud they saw to it that they were well housed and well fed and well feared by their common tribesmen. But, whatever the mingling of influences leading to tnis, the people as a whole were adopt to a degree They all honoured the standard and tried to attain it; and they did attain it to an extent that was remarkable. Zest for Perfection. Ono of tho ancient Maori's drill maxims was " Kia rito " —bo perfect—perfect, that is, in alignment and motion. Woo betido ttie careless ono who departed by the merest fraction from the standard. Such d happening was held to put all the rest in jeopardy from mischance. The erring ono was dismissed and execrated as a menace to the community. To understand how fully tho ancient Maori was an artist this universal estimation of perfection must be given weight. There was no scorn tho equal of that heaped upon the performer of anything who failed to do it. " tika"—correct. It was not enough that ho did his best, ho must do the best as that was understood by all. This sense of artistry was deep and unwavering as well as general. It bo longed to the Maori mind. Colenso, narrating instanco after instance of skilful work done with absolute precision, and searching for a term to cover all, adopts the word " ideality." And he enforces his meaning by showing that the ancient Maori, whether building or carving or tattooing or weaving or planting his garden, did all by the eyo. He wrought without aid ol foot-rule or calipers or even so much as the stretching of a cord His art was not merely a manual achievement: it was a mental triumph It was won m his brain

Civilised man. growing more and more accustomed to machinery and mechanical aids m general, has lost this ideality."

He dare not trust himsell fai without his rule and compasses. fie me eh anises much eveu ol his music, just as ho turns to tho printing press for perfect multiplying of designs in letters and to the camera for copies of things seen. The Maori remained, until the coming of the white man taught him to do better—and worso—a mastor of freehand The Sweeping Curve. Nor wn? it the poor perfection of the straignt line that satisfied him He loved the sweeping curve, perlect in its majestic course through an arc from point lo point. In this ho stands distinct in the Pacific Tho curvilinear decorative art of the Maori has no counterpart in Polynesia The nearest spot where you can find anything approaching it is in Melanesia!) New Guinea Polynesian decorative art in general is rectilinear, emphatically so, re presenting a phase of less menta' strength than that in which the Maori here be canio proficient. He carried his apprecia tion of rhyth n even into handicraft, sat isfying there his desire for harmonious finish.

In much of his work in wood and stone —as in some representations of Ihe human figure—he aimed at the grotesque: yes, aimed at it. But the fine work done on small boxes and on implements was marvellously exact and beautiful. Mention of implements recalls the fact that the Maori carried his love of decorative art to the extreme of placing richly ornamental designs on his weapons, and even on his agricultural tools In his carving, his tattooing, and in his personal adornment generally, he ex pressor! his inherent love of attractive ornament.

lie painted, too, even in the sense in which the term is now often used by people boast ng a higher civilisation. The face and body were often so adorned, most commonly with red ochre got from streams and swamps where oxide of iron abounded Blues, also, were used, and black and white, and even (as Polack noted) yellow.

Maori houses were often painted in decorative style. Not tho ordinary house, but that of superior type, designed for special tribal use, was adorned with mural embellishment. Rafters, battens, " the slim apology for a wall plate," as Mr Elsdon Best slightingly describes it, the ridge pole, the skirting board, and the boards at the ends of the structure, usually were so decorated. That this painting is today done pakeha fashion, in place of carving, should not obscure the fact that, in Maori history, painting is apparently earlier than carving. So face painting is held to have preceded tattooing. In this house-painting it was docoration that was achieved, not a mere preservation of the timber: and patterns of curvilinear design were followod. Appreciation of Colour. Throughout Maori handicraft runs evi denco thus of artistic sense and aptitude. Of spocial interest is the inlaying with pnwa shell, riot only for representation of eyes in human figures, but also for sheer delight in the iridescent glnam as a thing of beauty if not literally a joy for ever Dyeing played its part in the making of what we have been accustomed to describe as Maori mats. Hero, as elsewhere, bright colours predominate, because of the Maori's tropical origin, no doubt, but there is evident some sense of colour harmonies which the half civilised Maori of our own time seems to have lost. Nowaday great oxamples of Maori art aro not easy to discover outside of public museums and elaborate private collections Nor are there so many in existence m New Zealand as thero should be There has been a sorious loss of valuable treasures through sales to tourists and oversea institutions and to private dealers This loss of priceless example* of ancient Maori artistry is greatly to be regretted Legis lation has recentl> striven to save the remnants, and now there is afoot an effort to recall to activity the old-time skill. This effort is greatly to bo com mended. It should succeed in doing more than reawaken in the Mnori of to-day a love of tho old arts: there should result a more general appreciation of the mental characteristics of this really cultured people, from whom oven the most self-satisfied pakeha may learn some ■hing.