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This book traces Maori engagement with handwriting from 1769 to 1826. Through beautifully reproduced written documents, it describes the first encounters Maori had with paper and writing and the first relationships between Maori and Europeans in the earliest school. The book tells an image-led story about the earliest relationships between Maori and Pakeha based around the written word and sheds light on a larger story of the first attempts of Maori and Europeans to live together in the early 1800s, the negotiation of the r... read more

The new edition includes instructions for making a flax Pohutukawa, the flower of New Zealand’s Christmas tree. Real Pohutukawa flowers are stunning, but very delicate, and so not very practical for flower arrangements, but the flax version shown in this bouquet will last indefinitely. A variety of ideas for using the Pohutukawa are illustrated in the book, including instructions for making the hair decoration Flax on the brain.

Maori artifacts from Auckland War Memorial Museum with lovely glossy photos.

Bone carving is as old as civilisation itself. Even some of the oldest bone artifacts have decorative features that are clearly not necessary for their functional nature, showing that there have been complex cultural aspects to the carving of bone since earliest times. The first settlers of Aotearoa brought with them the skills of bone carving, both for items of personal adornment and for the manufacture of tools such as fish-hooks. These skills have been passed on, incorporating various cultural adaptations, to the present day. ... read more

An illustrated book with step-by-step instructions on how to make your own piupiu, the traditional Maori flax skirt. Experienced Totorua weaver Leilani Rickard covers everything you need to know - from customary uses of harakeke or flax, to the simple tools you will need to finish the garment. The colour photographs record every phase of the craft process and include a gallery of finished garments in both traditional and contemporary styles. First published June 2008.

Tene Waitere of Ngati Tarawhai (1854-1931) was the most innovative Maori carver of his time; his works reached global audiences decades before the globalisation of culture became a fashionable topic. Rauru is the highlight of a famous anthropological museum in Germany. Hinemihi, the carved house featured in one section of this book, sheltered survivors of the Tarawera eruption in 1886 before being removed to the park of an English country house. His carved Ta Moko panel is one of Te Papa the Museum of New Zealand's icons. Three out... read more

Weaving is more than just a product of manual skills. From the simple rourou (food basket) to the prestigious kahukiwi (kiwi feather cloak), weaving is endowed with the very essence of the spiritual values of Maori people. The first Maori settlers brought the knowledge of weaving with them. In Aotearoa they found new plant materials, including the versatile harakeke (New Zealand flax). They also incorporated feathers from birds and the skin and hair of their dogs. They wove practical items necessary for everyday life. But they also... read more

Anyone can learn to make a plaited kete, one of the oldest and most popular of Maori art forms, from the leaves of New Zealand flax (phormium tenax). Te Mahi Kete gives detailed, step-by-step instructions, illustrated with numerous line drawings and black-and-white photographs, for preparing the flax and plaiting two simple types of kete. It also shows variations in technique for starting and finishing, making the handles and incorporating a decorative pattern.

DoP 2008, Auckland
First published in 1984
178x248mm /104pp
Softcover

The arts of the Maori are among the most alluring and sophisticated of the Pacific peoples. They developed their skills through centuries of endeavour and craft experimentation, expressing religious and artistic ideas in wood, stone, bone, shell and other materials. In particular, their carving and weaving are universally admired; Maori themselves proudly preserve their artistic traditions and honour the great historic art works. I... read more

reprinting This stunning book presents a photographic survey that traverses the concepts and values of tradtional Mâori weaving through to innovative, contemporary weaving practice. The evocative photos and text reveal the spiritual significance of weaving within Mâori culture. First published 2005.

This book is a valuable record and catalogue of Maori fibre techniques, including plaiting, weaving, braiding, miro, single pair twining, double pair twining, close twining, taniko, twining with rigid materials (fish traps), netting, knotless netting, tukutuku, windmill knotting and wickerwork. It includes black and white and colour photos, plus line drawings of different techniques and patterns. Many of these techniques are not recorded elsewhere, and are at risk of dying out. Mick’s descriptions and illustrations are practi... read more

Weaving was born of necessity. To keep the body warm, to clothe it : Just as potters of pre-history made pots for mankind to hold foods and liquids. Both processes also express the human need to make and create, using the hands and eyes. Weaving of natural, organic materials has soothing ahd therapeutic effect, yet one need not disregarded today's synthetics, even digital technology, in the endevour to express one's creativeness. This book describes briefly the traditional materials that Maori used for weaving over the centu... read more

Over 50 full colour photos present intricate pendant designs hand-crafted from New Zealand Paua Shell accompanied by practical advice on the equipment and methods required to hand-craft objects made from this beautiful, naturally-occurring material. The author dips into a rich store of Maori symbology and traditional iconography, touching on the significance of designs such as dolphins, whales and whale flukes, cats and dogs, other native animals, the koru, the silver fern, fish-hooks, circles and some astrological and religious si... read more

To Maori, the governing principle of mauri brings to all objects the power and prescience of a living spirit. Objects that are hand-crafted from wood, stone, shell, bone or pounamu are imbued with life by their creators. Conveying the mauri of an object through photography requires an exceptional talent, one focused on distilling the essential energy of the original piece through shades of lighting, position and perspective. This is what Brian Brake achieved. The photos in this collection constitute the best of Brake's photographic... read more

Maoritanga and Maori modernist art 1900 - 1980This exciting book charts the growth and development of the Maori modernist art. Artists constructed a Maori art that attempted to respond to the modern world. The book includes a rich selection of reproductions. This exciting book by a leading younger art historian charts the growth and development of the Maori modernist art that emerged from the rapid urbanisation of Maori in the midtwentieth century and the complex transition of Maori cultural and social structures from a rural t... read more

A new edition of this iconic book includes new larger format and photographs rescanned from Marti Friedlander's originals. It is an indepth photographic study of the ancient art of moko.

Written by master carver and Maori instrument maker Brian Flintoff, this book includes a background to the tunes played on these instruemnts, and the families of natural sounds with which they are associated. There are sections covering the various types of instruments, such as flutes, gourds, wood and shell trumpets and bullroarers; but what really breathes life into this book is the way that the technical information about each instrument is interwoven with the mythological and cultural contect to which it belongs. Illustrated w... read more

This exceptional book highlights over 120 taonga tuku iho (ancestral Maori treasures) from Te Papa's collections. Rich images of these precious objects, are accompanied by stories from the artists who created the taonga, the people who used them in daily life, and their living descendants. Items include traditional carvings, weapons, waka huia (treasure containers), jewellery, and taonga such as puppets used by tohunga (ritual experts) and tools for tamoko (customary skin marking). Maps, diagrams, and additional photographs - both ... read more

Kura Koiwi is both a personal account of Brian Flintoff’s career as a carver, but also an important exploration of Maori art and how it relates to carving.
Heavily illustrated with exquisite examples of his, and other people’s work, this book explains the mythology and symbolism behind his work, and in doing so provides an inspiring window into the power and beauty of our indigenous culture.
Conceived as a sister publication to Taonga Puoro: Singing Treasures, his acclaimed earlier book on Maori musical inst... read more