The textile blog: Kowhaiwhai - Maori Rafter Patterns. Kowhaiwhai is a form of Maori decoration that takes the form of abstract curved pattern work. These painted decorative patterns usually portrayed in traditional colours of red, white and black, are often placed within Maori meeting houses. The rafters of these houses are covered in Kowhaiwhai work. However, this form of decoration was never limited in the past to meeting houses as the pattern work could be found on a number of objects from water carriers to canoes. It is interesting to note that this form of decoration is very closely allied in some respects at least, to both woodcarving and tattoo work, which it does resemble in many ways.
However, this form of painted decoration, by its very nature, does not have the same permanence as woodcarving or tattooing and is often seen as purposely transitory. Much of the pattern work was produced on an amateur basis with no previous experience being strictly necessary. The pattern work has a standard recurring 'curl' as its main motif. – Māori architecture – whare Māori. Ancestral stories Ancestral stories describe how Māori made their buildings, and these structures’ communal functions, relationship to the natural world and symbolic meanings as ancestors, whakapapa (genealogies) and cosmologies. Buildings were part of a Māori cultural landscape where the human and natural worlds were interdependent.
The complexity of that world was reflected in the buildings’ construction and use. Ruatepupuke Ngāti Porou traditions remember Ruatepupuke as the ancestor who established a long tradition of whare whakairo construction on the East Coast of the North Island. He first encountered this type of architecture when rescuing his son from Huiteananui, the underwater house of the sea god Tangaroa. Te Rāwheoro wānanga Ruatepupuke returned to the earthly world with his son and other carvings from Huiteananui, which he installed into a new house, Te Rāwheoro. The house as an ancestor Many whare whakairo are named after ancestors. Teaching whakapapa Meeting the meeting house. – Māori rock art – ngā toi ana. Types of pigment Local geology and regional cultural diversity often influenced the way rock art was made, as well as its subject matter. Most South Island Māori rock art was painted in black carbon that was derived from soot then mixed with oil and other ingredients.
Works in red paint and raw pigment are also fairly widespread in the South Island, often appearing together with black figures. Some compositions contain multiple colours deliberately applied in a single design. Natural deposits of iron oxide in the land provided red pigment for mixing into paint, or for use in a dry form, and the colours recorded so far range from orange through to deep carmine. Yellow, white and blue pigments were available from clay deposits and other minerals. Clay-derived white as a single colour was occasionally used on darker rock surfaces in the South Island. Ink recipe In 1918 a technique for making black paint for rock art appeared in the Journal of the Polynesian Society. Regional variations. Te Ara Maori Painted Designs. Warning This information was published in 1966 in An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A.
H. McLintock. It has not been corrected and will not be updated. Up-to-date information can be found elsewhere in Te Ara. Painted designs were used by the Maori on the rafters, doors, and windows of buildings, on the under surface of the bows of war canoes, and on cenotaphs. Wood Design The designs on buildings, canoes, and cenotaphs are called kowhaiwhai. Rock Designs Although kowhaiwhai patterns occur in cave paintings, it is more usual to find pictures of birds, fish, reptiles, canoes, and many other designs, some of them very difficult to interpret. Whakairo.
Maori.org.nz acknowledge Kemera Wilson for providing this information. Kowhaiwhai patterns as well as being decorative are also used for enhancing the story. Nature is often the inspiration for these beautiful and stunning patterns which are often found on the rafters of the meeting houses. Below are some of the common patterns found throughout the Maori world as well as their generic meanings and where they are from. Kaperua From the Tai Rawhiti This pattern represents things doubled.
Koiri From the Tai Rawhiti This pattern means to flourish. Mangopare From Aotearoa. This design comes from the hammerhead shark and represents strength and power. Mangotipi From Mataatua, Tuhoe. This design comes from the white pointer shark. Ngaru From Ngati Kahungunu This design represents the cutting of the waves when the waka travelled. Patiki From Pare Hauraki The design represents the Patiki or flounder. Puhoro From Te Arawa This design represents speed, swiftness and agility.
Kowhaiwhai - Geometry of Aotearoa - What are Kowhaiwhai? TVNZ Doco The Wharenui. TKI Arts Online. Question: What are three customary artforms in the wharenui and what is the cultural and physical relationship between them? Answer: As your question suggests developing a knowledge and appreciation of MÄori Arts relies on also developing a knowledge and sensitivity for Maori cultural practice. MÄori Arts such as carving (whakairo), tukutuku (lattice work) and kowhaiwhai designs seen in whare whakairo ( carved meeting houses) have special cultural significance as visual statements reflecting iwi, hapu, and whanau views, history and values.
In traditional MÄori society all objects or things, alive or inanimate possess mauri- a life force or essence. All need to be treated with respect for their mauri- their essence. €œ Maori conceived of the natural world as an outcome of the genealogical process of development from Te Kore (the potential for being) through Te PÅ (the night) and Te MÄrama (the world of light). Mana atua relates to the power or prestige of MÄori gods.