Toi whakairo (art carving) or just whakairo (carving) is a
Māori traditional art of
carving in wood, stone or bone.[1]
History
Timber was formed into houses, fencepoles,
pouwhenua, containers,
taiaha, tool handles and waka (canoe). Carving tools were made from stone, preferably the very hard
pounamu (greenstone). Bone was used for fish hooks and needles amongst other things. Designs on carvings depict tribal ancestors, and are often important for establishing iwi and hapu identity.[2]
After European contact, many traditionally carved items were no longer widely produced in favour of using Western counterparts, such as
waka huia treasure containers being replaced with lockable
seaman's chests by the 1840s.[3] Traditionally, many expert carvers focused on creating elaborate
waka taua (war canoes), however this declined during the 1860s when waka taua were superseded by
whaleboats or small European style sailing ships.[2] During the decline, carvers focused instead on carved
marae, objects such as
tokotoko, or carved aspects of buildings such as churches.[4][2] Most traditions that survived this period into the late 1800s were centred around communal whakairo schools, mostly located around
Rotorua,
Te Urewera, the
Whanganui River and the
East Coast.[2] Carving schools balanced producing art for their own people with commercial works, with many of the most successful being
Te Arawa (
Ngāti Whakaue,
Ngāti Pikiao and
Ngāti Tarāwhai), located near
Rotorua, during the tourism boom to the area in the 1870s, with an increased need for carved works such as the model village at
Whakarewarewa, and souvenirs.[2]
The
Māori Arts and Crafts Institute at
Whakarewarewa in
Rotorua, opened by Sir
Āpirana Ngata in 1926, is a stronghold of traditional carving skills.[2][5] Ngata put arts as a 'vital part' of the rejuvenation of Māori culture.[6]Hone Taiapa was head of this school for some time. Since the
Māori Renaissance in the 1960s there has been a resurgence of whakairo, alongside other traditional Māori practices, and an expansion into
contemporary art. Many carvers express their practices in explicitly spiritual terms.[7] The
Māori Art Market (funded by the state-sponsored
Toi Māori Aotearoa) is a significant venue for the promotion and sale of whakairo.
Features
Wooden Māori carvings are often painted to pick out features. Before modern paints were available this was often a mixture of kōkōwai (red ochre) and shark-liver oil. This was thought to preserve the carvings and also imbue them with a tapu (sacred) status.[8] Following the introduction of metal tools there was a substantial increase in decorative ornamentation, particularly in wood and bone carving.[9]
Te Papa and
Auckland Art Gallery have substantial holdings of whakairo, with Te Papa in particular having many digitised in their Collections online website.[15]