New Zealand Art — Maori and more
What do these two pieces of artwork have in common? They both come from artists born in New Zealand!
The first picture, a wooden carving, represents traditional Maori art carving, or as Maori would say “Toi whakairo”. Using wood, stone or bone, Maori carvers have been producing masks, jewellery, containers, tools and other objects ever since and are famous for decorating them with ornaments such as the koru (Maori for “loop”), a spiral shape based on the shape of a unfurling silver fern. The earliest signs of Maori art are charcoal drawings which can be found in rock shelters in the centre of the South Island, drawn between 500 and 800 years ago. They show animals, people and fantastic creatures.
Nowadays there is still a remarkable interest in traditional Maori Art, which is for example taught at the Māori Arts and Crafts Institute in Rotorua and supported by organisations such as “Toi Māori Aotearoa”, which promotes Māori art and artists and shows exhibitions and performances.
The artwork on the right is from Bill Culbert, who was born in 1935 in Port Chalmers near Dunedin and is famous for his use of light and recycled materials in painting, photography, sculpture and installation work. He is interested in exploring the interaction between the human eye and light. He uses ready-made materials, which means he utilizes objects he found just as they are without changing them. Bill Culbert studied at the Ilam School of Fine Arts and the University of Canterbury and had different solo exhibitions all over the world. He also represented New Zealand at the 55th Venice Biennale, which is one of the most important platforms for modern artists of our time.
