http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/sandamichaela-1384737-new-zealand-arts-crafts1/

Aotearoa is the most widely known and accepted Māori name for New Zealand. The original derivation of Aotearoa is not known for certain. The word can be broken up as: ao = cloud, tea = white and roa = long, and it is therefore usually glossed as "the land of the long white cloud".

Before the arrival of the Europeans Māori literature, stories and legends were handed down both orally and through weavings and carvings. Some carvings are over 500 years old.

Te Toi Whakairo is the art of Māori carving, and Tohunga Whakairo were the great carvers - the master craftsmen. A master carver was highly considered. The Māori believed that the gods created and communicated through the master carvers.

Carving used to be a tapu art, subject to the rules and laws of tapu. The pieces of wood falling aside as the carver worked were never thrown away, neither were they used for the cooking of food. Women were not permitted near the carvings.

The history, traditions, language and religion of the Māori make up an integral part of the carving art. To the Māori,

all things possess a spirit (wairua), and a mauri (life force)

Felling a tree was to cut down a descendant of Tane, the god of forests and of man. Before committing such an act, a karakia (ritual incantation) was recited by the Tohunga, in order to ensure that the act of felling an offspring of Tane could be carried out safely.

The Māori differed from other Polynesians in that they preferred curves to straight lines in much of their carvings.

Many carvings take the distinctive koru spiral form, similar to that of a curving stalk, or a bulb.

The koru (Māori for "bight” or "loop”) is a spiral shape based on the shape of a new unfurling silver fern frond and symbolizing new life, growth, strength and peace. It is an integral symbol in Māori art, carving and tattoos. The circular shape of the koru helps to convey the idea of perpetual movement while the inner coil suggests a return to the point of origin.

Koru can also refer to bone carvings. Those generally take the shape of the uncurling fern plant. When bone is worn on the skin, it changes colour as oil is absorbed. The Māori took this to symbolise that the spirit of the person was inhabiting the pendant. When someone gives a pendant to someone else, it is the custom that they wear it for a time so that part of their spirit is given as well.

The koru is used in a stylised form as the logo of Air New Zealand and as an iconic symbol of New Zealand flora.

Internet image - Koru

The koru design is an integral symbol in Maori art forms. Both on itself as well as incorporated in more intricate designs.

The circular movement towards an inner coil refers to ‘going back to the beginning’. The unfurling frond itself is symbolic for new life, hope, perfection, a new start, awakening, personal growth, purity, nurturing, a new phase (in life), rebirth, the spirit of rejuvenation, and peace.

Text: Internet

Pictures and arangement:

Sanda Foi oreanuş

www.slideshare.net/michaelasandaSound: Tarakihi (The Locust) - Kiri te Kanava

Traditional maori song - Maori Haka