Week 11: Looking at Mana Wahine and Decolonisation

The approach to gender between Maori and Western cultures were quiet opposite. Looking into the role of woman, from a Maori perspective (pre-colonial times) "Maori cosmological narratives stressed the importance of Maori Woman in sustaining the Whakapapa" (Simmonds). They were seen to play "a key role in linking the past with the present and the...

Week 10: Appropriation and exploitation in Aotearoa.

  A key example in Engels Schwarzpaul's "Dislocation Wiremu and Rau - The wild man in virtual worlds" is the game character 'Rau' from the game 'The Mark of Kri'. Due to the characters appropriation of Maori culture. Although Engels who quotes Jeff Merghart, the Lead Designer of The Mark of Kri, says "Rau's isn’t Māori and he’s not from or...

Week 9: Art, Design, and Asian heritage in Aotearoa New Zealand

The combination of the two elements isn't the core aspect of hybridity, its the third part which is the result of the combination which defines hybridity. If looked at with a culture context and the mixture of two races the outcome is the "third space" (Bhabha, 221). This space between worlds "displaces the histories that...

Week 8: Stereotypes and Speaking Back to New Zealand’s Dominant Culture

A prime example of how Maori were misrepresented in the media was with the 2013 'Blazed" drug driving Advert which was shown on national television. This ad was in relation to drug use and driving, targeting adults especially those with kids as it brought an awareness that the kids knew what the parents were doing....

Week 7 Task: Framing the Exotic

Considerations regarding the Pacific identities. Hau'ofa talks about the idea of a regional identity or "regionalism". Since colonial times the pacific islands have had to struggle against constant labelling and a changing of identity by the outside world (Hau'ofa, 395).  Hau'ofa believes the idea of a 'collective identity' would "help us to act together for...

Episode 7: Hinemihi

  Ngati Tuwharetoa. Hinemihi.1880. (Restored 2002, Clandon Park).   Hinemihi originally was a wharenui (communal house). Built and created as a traditional meeting house and was used “to entertain tourists interested in cultural performance” (Dr Susan Alba) due to its location, near the pink and white terraces, it was a prime area for tourists. This...

Episode 6: Cultural Sensitivity

Having read the source "Take me away … In search of original dwelling"  I have come to the conclusion that the overall aim of the reading is about the idea that if things are done culturally sensitively, it can provide an anchor point abroad for its indigenous people. As it brings greater understanding of its...

Episode 5: Colonial Art

  Louis John Steele's Spoils to the Victor (1908). Oil on Panel. Auckland Art Gallery. New Zealand. Analysing the work Spoils to the victor (1908) by Louis John Steele you can see a few of key artistic principals which is from the influence of European Nineteenth Century Art. European works like Frank O. Salisbury's Cleopatra dancing...

Episode 4: Cultural Assimilation of Maori

Something I did not know from the reading the chapter Tauiwi (chapter 5) of  R, Walker's Ka Whawhai Tonu Matou was the negative views of the missionaries of the local Maori and their culture. These views can be seen to have dire consequences upon the local culture and way of practice as it resulted in the...

Episode 3 – Kaupapa & Mātauranga

  The terms Kaupapa Maori and Mātauranga Maori are in strong relation to one another, although their definitions can often overlap,"they are not synonymous"(Royal, 30). The meaning of the two terms have a quite distinct difference but the correlation with each other can be seen as a core element for the future of maori in 'modern' society. Kaupapa Maori...