The author of a new book says Maori art is a river stretching back to Hawaiiki.
Te Rangihiroa Panoho has spent more than 25 years working on the book Maori Art: History, Architecture, Landscape and Theory, which was launched in Auckland last week.
He says he’s tried to bring a range of disciplines to his study, from anthropology and ethnology to architecture and art history, as he followed the trail of visual symbols back across the Pacific.
Dr Panoho says it’s important to stand on tradition while looking out to the horizon and what is coming next.
"The book centers on the korero whakarite of a river, an awa, and you have a matapuna which is like a Hawaiiki area to our culture and Kupe talked about this matapuna, this special Hawaiiki place, for him the Society Islands but for us many of these different Hawaiiki all the way back to Taiwan.
Te Rangihiroa Panoho’s book Maori Art, with photography by Mark Adams and Haruhiko Shameshima, is published by Bateman.
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