New Zealand and Australia are contrasting countries of spectacular natural beauty, unique history and amazing attractions. They are also nations with extraordinary contemporary indigenous artists working in all media. The artists draw on their rich past and vibrant present, as well as their own individual creative vision. The 60 works of art in this exhibition have been selected to serve as an introduction to the contemporary art of the New Zealand Maori and the Australian Aborigine.

Who are the Maori of New Zealand?

 After thousands of years journeying throughout Asia and the South Pacific, the Polynesian ancesters of the Maori  settled in New Zealand -- Aotearoa -- more than 1,300 years ago, voyaging in ocean-going canoes from their spiritual homeland of -- Hawaiki -- a region within the Pacific Islands including, Society Islands, the Cook Islands or -- Tuabai -- the Australs.  The landing places of these intrepid canoes are of great significance in Maori  history, because genealogies are traced back to those who came on the original -- waka  -- canoe. 

For the Maori, the universe was created during the separation of -- Ranginui -- Sky Father and -- Papatuanuku -- Earth Mother .The movement and interaction of creator ancestors and supernatural beings defined the features of mountains, lands, oceans, stars, forests and weather. Maori artists worked to tell the legends and stories passed on from one generation to the next. The essential histories -- whakapapa -- were primarily recorded in wood carvings that decorated meeting houses, canoes and other buildings and dwellings. Carving featured also on weapons, musical instruments, storage containers, walking sticks, tools, as well as jewelry used in the daily and ceremonial lives of the people. The traditions of Maori art and other creative visions provide an essential starting point for the contemporary Maori artist in his own work and the essential training and inspiration for the next generation of artists.

Gifted artists have always held a special place within community life and were charged with the responsibility of passing on their knowledge with the -- karakia -- prayers -- and processes that would maintain the knowledge and heritage uniquely associated with the artists role from master to student, within the context of -- kaitiakitanga -- stewardship and guardianship and the life sustaining capacity -- mauri -- of the land, the sea, the forest and the people. The cultural significance of many projects meant that Maori artists spent considerable periods of time when they were - themselves regarded as -- tapu -- sacred.

Westerners and Maori alike revere well-made form. Each admires skillful technique and execution, exquisitely rendered forms, pattern, balance, symmetry, surface treatments and a sense of completeness. Maori artists trained in the ancient art form, however, strive to portray more than that. As metaphor or symbol, Maori art embodies the world of ideas and beliefs, confirming their notions about who they are and where they came from - the universe and the spiritual realm.