Maori tukutuku panel weaving, one of the oldest artforms created in New Zealand history from Maori seafaring waka-vikings, meets a safety message in this artwork, as a reminder that New Zealand has always been about tight tight knit communities.
This work is being displayed at B.O.B Cafe, one of the world’s best latte makers making coffee made with New Zealand premium dairy milk. It’s the best!
We’re in latte heaven here (sorry Starbucks), but in NZ we are! Latte’s are even served with a complimentary cookie. Warm hospitality plus, perhaps Starbucks franchise should try this approach to furthering the appeal of groovey cafe culture, it would probably boost sales into China, no end. Just a thought. :)
Now let’s get back to the artwork above.
According to Christchurch City’s website, “Tukutuku panels are a traditional Māori art form. They are decorative wall panels that were once part of the traditional wall construction used inside meeting houses. Originally tukutuku were made by creating a latticework of vertically and horizontally placed dried stalks of kākaho, the creamy-gold flower stalks of toetoe grass, and kākaka, long straight fern stalks, or wooden laths of rimu or tōtara, called variously kaho tara, kaho tarai or arapaki.
These panels were lashed or stitched together. This was done by people working in pairs from either side, using the rich yellow strands of pīngao, white bleached or black-dyed kiekie, and sometimes harakeke, to create a range of intricate and artistic patterns. Stitches were combined to form a variety of patterns. Groups of single stitches created patterns such as tapuae kautuku, waewae pakura, whakarua kopito and papakirango. Some of the traditional cross stitched patterns are poutama, waharua, purapura whetu or mangaroa, kaokao, pātikitiki, roimata toroa and niho taniwha. In some situations, a central vertical stake, tumatahuki, was lashed to the panel to aid its strength and stability.
This method of construction created a warm, insulating type of decorative wallboard. Later, painted wooden slats or half-rounds were used for the horizontal element.”
There is so much to explore in the cultural lores of New Zealand’s rich artistic traditions. See it. :)
Tres bon!
~Posted by Horiwood.Com, Aotearoa New Zealand, Polynesia Asia-Pacific. 20.6.11~