The culture that represents New Zealand is the Maori culture. Maori culture has existed for more than 1000 years. The Maori people are the indigenous people of Aotearao (New Zealand) and first people to arrived in waka hourua (voyaging canoes) from their ancestral homeland of Hawaiki over 1000 years ago. Today, there are only about 14 percent of Maori people left which are living throughout New Zealand. The people of Maori define themselves by their tribe, sub-tribe, mountain and river respectively.
As there are more immigrants coming to New Zealand, they will tend to bring their culture with them and hence for the past years, the Maori culture has been diluted, replaced and slowly forgotten. It is only until the recent years, when the Maori language nest was introduced and the increase traditional carvers, that have helps in reviving Maori culture and its language. The traditional carvers have helped by creating complicated and detailed works that pay respects to the past. Behind every single piece that is being produced has got its own story to tell. The shape of the head, the position of the body and the surface patterns work together to record and remember events.
Maori has a rich and varied culture and it consist of both traditional and contemporary art. Traditional arts that are practise all over New Zealand consist of arts like weaving, carving, kapa haka(group performance), whaikorero(oratory) and moko(Tattoo).
Maori has a rich and varied culture and it consist of both traditional and contemporary art. Traditional arts that are practise all over New Zealand consist of arts like weaving, carving, kapa haka(group performance), whaikorero(oratory) and moko(Tattoo).
Weaving
Maori use New Zealand Flax(phormium tenax) as their weaving material. The Maori have got skillful skill and weaving play a spiritual significant in their culture as they used to rely on weaving to sustain their everyday needs. They could weave things like flax, baskets, floor mats, skirts and cloaks.
Whaikorero
Whaikorero is a formal speech that man make for formal welcome ceremonies and social gatherings. It is a chance for the Maori to show off their level of Maori language.
Moko
Moko refers to the art of Maori tattooing. It represent their integrity, identity, and prestige. Every tattoo is unique and the same tattoo will never be found on the second person.They believe that a true strong warrior should have a tattoo and by tattooing, it is also way to show their attractiveness to the opposite sex. To the Maori woman, tattooing is a way to show that they are beautiful. They could tattoo anywhere on their body. But most Maori will have their tattoo is their face and neck.
Carving
The three main materials that the Maori usually use for carving are wood, bones and stones. They could crave things like wearable art, jewellery, sculpture, netsuke and indigenous musical instruments out of those wood, bones and stones. Every single piece of caving is an intricate piece of work.
Kapa Haka
Kapa Haka is the traditional cultural event that Maori people celebrate. It also refers to Maori Performing Arts. It is a cultural event that showcases the exact lifestyle of Maori. It consists of both performance of a suite of songs and dances. The music and dance type that they nuse are waiata tira (warm-up song), whakaeke (entrance song), waiata-ā-ringa (action song), haka (challenge), mōteatea (old-style singing), poi (co-ordinated swinging of balls attached to ropes), and whakawātea (closing song). They may also include tītī tōrea (manipulation of a thin stick). Kapa haka is performed by dozens of people and they will dress up in neo-traditional Māori dress during the performance.
Whaikorero
Whaikorero is a formal speech that man make for formal welcome ceremonies and social gatherings. It is a chance for the Maori to show off their level of Maori language.
Moko
Moko refers to the art of Maori tattooing. It represent their integrity, identity, and prestige. Every tattoo is unique and the same tattoo will never be found on the second person.They believe that a true strong warrior should have a tattoo and by tattooing, it is also way to show their attractiveness to the opposite sex. To the Maori woman, tattooing is a way to show that they are beautiful. They could tattoo anywhere on their body. But most Maori will have their tattoo is their face and neck.
Present New Zealand
With evolution and high rate of new immigration settling in New Zealand, it has brought New Zealand to a whole new level of modernistic and has unknowingly modified the culture of New Zealand. Thus, their culture has becomes modern as they have influence and mix contemporary arts style into their culture. Today Maori culture has also includes art, film, television, poetry, theatre, and hip-hop into their culture.
