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agmanz news Zealand New of CONTENTS Association . Feathers and Fibre. Registration, Accessioning and Cataloguing. o What Happened to Mrs Jones’ bequest or . Documentation Problems in History Museums. 0 The New Zealand Film Archive . The Attorney—General of New Zealand v. George Ortiz and others. a Botanical Display in Britain. Museums 0 New Publications . Miscellaneous Letters, Notices and Requests. and Galleries Art the of quarterly December 1982 Feathers and Fibre many forms, owing their existence to Peter Waaka, Education Officer their practicality, became obsolete. Today, with the upsurge of interest in Rotorua handcrafts, the kit has made its appearance on the streets of the cities, Successful exhibitions of Maori art in demand by both Pakeha and Maori have been mounted before, both within for its usefulness and attractiveness. New Zealand and abroad. Carvings in Modem examples borrowed from wood, greenstone and whalebone present-day plaiters are displayed have long been admired and displayed alongside museum pieces. in important art collections throughout The other main category of piaited the world. Fibre crafts, however, with articles involves floor mats which the occasional exception of fine cloaks, traditionally covered the earthen floors have been largely ignored. of houses. The lower layer consisted of Four months ago the Rotorua Art fern fronds, rush or other unwOrked Gallery decided to give the public an material covered with coarse mats. opportunity to examine the develOp- These were in turn covered with finer ment of Maori craft in the confines of a sleeping mats. Plaited mats are still single exhibition. Through the services used on the floor of meeting houses and expertise of exhibition curator Mick today. Two finely woven round mats Pendergrast, hundreds of items, both (an unusual design) are on loan to the traditional and non-traditional, were exhibition from Rotorua centenarian, forthcoming from throughout the North Taniko Piece (decorative border), Mrs Ranginui Leonard, who turns 110 island. To be eligible for display, works Made by Tira Hinewai from Te Kuiti years old later this year, and is by far had to incorporate feathers and/or in 1943. Material: Flax fibre. From our oldest contributor. fibre in their construction and show a .the Puti Fiare collection, Auckland. Another category of Maori craftwork high standard of design and crafts- on display focuses on garment-making manship. These criteria were extended techniques. were not available in New Zealand so Without the use of the to include unusual items and those loom the Maori produced warm and which portrayed as wide a range of the early settlers were forced to find alternatives. Harakeke, the so~called beautiful cloaks by the whatu tech- styles, techniques and patterns as nique (known also New Zealand flax, proved to be the as downward possible. weaving). Particular types of cloak Mick Pendergrast of Pokeno, South most useful and most versatile material although baskets made from kiekie, were made for protection from the rain Auckland, has had a life-long interest and wind and others as prestige and in Maori art and craft. He spent 25 paopao, houhi, pingao and cabbage tree also feature in the exhibition. fashion items. Maori weaving includes years teaching in the Eastern Bay of the techniques of single pair twining Plenty where his appreciation of fibre The kit is one of the most popular examples of plaiting and is still widely more often on coarsely woven rain crafts flourished. Author of a book en- cloaks, double pair twining on better titled ‘Maori Basketry for Beginners‘ used both as a practical container and as a visual item of Maori identity. class cloaks and taniko patterns as (1975), he was an ideal choice to decorative elements on the finest Although the life of an individual kit curate an exhibition involving such an cloaks. The oldest and tended to be comparatively short, it most historic assortment of Maori craft objects from cloak on display was was generally replaced with an made by a Te an exhibition involving such an assort- Arawa ancestress during the early ment of Maori craft objects from a wide identical article, unimproved and un- range of family and tribal backgrounds. changed. As a result, changes in The resulting exhibition, mounted at structure and technique were gradual, the Rotorua Art gallery from 19 allowing age-old patterns to survive the July—22 August, represents the most ravages of time. Some elements of comprehensive range of Maori craft today’s craftwork can thus be attributed ever assembled in New Zealand. to New Zealand’s early Polynesian The exhibition was opened by the heritage. Member of Parliament for Eastern More than 100 kits of various shapes Maori, Dr Peter Tapsell, and was at— and sizes were displayed in the tended by more than 300 people from exhibition. Some of these were used various parts of the country. in his for gathering seafood and harvesting opening address Dr Tapsell expressed crops while others had more specific the view that this collection of Maori purposes. Special kits were made to craft objects was the most significant carry loads on the back, to steep and most impressive display he had karaka kernels in water, to extract juice ever been called on to open. and oil from various roots and berries A major part of the exhibition has and to store weaving materials. been devoted to piaited articles. One of the more unusual items on Plaiting (raranga), the technique display was a tawiri titoki, a device employed by the Maori to manufacture used for extracting the oil of the titoki baskets and mats, has been con- berry. The article is made of flax and sistently neglected in art and museum was found on the western shore of collections yet it has proved to be the Lake Taupo during the 19205. Titoki most persistent form of Maori work— oil was the finest known to the Maori manship. The plants which provided and was used to anoint the head and Kawhiu (diving kit) made by Hanara the Eastern Polynesian ancestors of the hair. As life styles changed cor- Waara, Kopuapounamu. Material: the Maori with raw materials for their responding changes took place in the Flax. Mick Prendergroot Collection, clothing, basketry and fishing gear manufacture of work baskets and Pokeno, 18003 and is on loan to the Rotorua of traditional fishing gear, however, Twenty-two key gallery/museum Art Gallery from the Auckland institute and its comparatively short life span people responsible for their respective and Museum. The cloak was made as have led to its replacement by com- institution’s documentation attended - a result of a severe defeat suffered by mercially manufactured cords, nylons the numbers deliberately limited so that Te Arawa at the hands of the Tuhoe and netting. Some fine examples of discussion would be the more inten- near Lake Rerewhakaitu. it takes its crayfish pots, fish traps, shellfish sive. in addition, Keith Thomson place in the exhibition alongside some dredges and eel traps (hinaki) were (AGMANZ), John Yaidwyn (National 15 other cloaks, traditional and con- on display. Museum) and Judy Turner AGMANZ temporary, from various parts of the The exhibition, therefore, rep- secretary/treasurer were also in North island. resented an attempt to rectify the past attendance. The influence of missionaries, and neglect of fibre crafts and to inspire Geoffrey Lewis opened the seminar later of Pakeha settlers, combined with thought and discussion amongst our with a statement based on his Sydney the availability of new materialsjed to craftspeopie. The general public will address on the history and develop- wide—sweeping changes in costume have gained a deep insight into a ment of museum documentation pro— design and manufacture. Today, much-neglected art form. cesses, setting the scene by talking western dress has been fully adopted about the principles underlying that while the contemporary equivalent of documentation and inevitably referring traditional dress is worn only on to work being undertaken in the United ceremonial occasions and by per— Kingdom and by iCOM in this field but forming groups. One article of not, however, going into great detail traditional clothing on loan from the about the processes themselves. He Auckland Museum is a triangular apron discussed library cataloguing as op- (maro koopua) made of flax fibre. it is posed to museum cataloguing and the a part of Elsdon Best’s collection from necessity of extending museum docu- the Tuhoe people and was worn only mentation to cover not only the col— by high-born girls. lections records but also the informa- Throughout the exhibition various tion handling requirements of our craft—making techniques were dis— museums as a whole, the latter played by present-day craftspeople. Mr involving the general policies and Renata Tihore from Hicks Bay demon- objectives of each institution. strated his knowledge of traditional He went on to describe some of the fishing apparatus and was ac— key issues which arose from the British companied by two young apprentices Museums Documentation Association who he has been tutoring over the past (MDA) in the development of an inter- few months. At the time of early disciplinary cataloguing structure to contact, Europeans commented on the collection and documentation and the size and efficiency of Maori fishing computer programme package which tackle and the expertise and know- was developed concurrently. This led ledge that accompanied it. Captain on to a summary of the work being Cook considered it to be superior to Paraerae (sandals). Material: undertaken by lCOM’s international anything made in Europe. The time cabbage tree leaves, Auckland Committee for Documentation and labour involved in the production Museum Collection. Photographs (CiDOC) on the establishment of courtesy Alex Wilson and John national policies for the documentation Martin.

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