Maori Renaissance

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The term Maori Renaissance refers to the 1950s in New Zealand, when there was a rise in prominence of a number of Maori artists who incorporated Maori imagery and materials with the techniques and materials of European art.

The 1950s were not very kind to Maori culture and people. The NZ government believed that the Maori should become just like Europeans and tried to merge them into the European society of New Zealand. In contrast to this attitude, a man named Gordon Tovey believed that Maori art should be taught in schools to both Maori and Pakeha students. By encouraging Maori men and women to become teachers, Tovey created an opportunity for artists to create Maori art with the ideas and materials of European art.

Artists such as Paratene Matchitt, Arnold Wilson and Cliff Whiting began to produce art that developed Maori art in new directions, taking their work into the European art galleries as well as back to the marae, and into specifically Maori contexts.