The Art of the Maori People. “For the Maori, the cosmos is teeming, with spirits and ances
The Art of the Maori People. “For the Maori, the cosmos is teeming, with spirits and ancestors. Reverence for the past and relationships to nature and the supernatural are inextricably linked with manmade environment and spaces large and small. Personal vessels and containers can be very sacred. Elaborately decorated communal houses create protective places for humans and ancestors and function as a link between the earthly and spiritual realms. "Our ancestral houses {whare tupuna} are some of the last remnants of our tribal lives…For the Maori, there were no gods, only the wind, rain, sunlight, and the natural beauty of the Earth and Sky. These concepts are all reflected in the structure of the ancestral house. This was a place where generations of people could sit and view their history and identity, where the stories of the people could be told, and where any disputes could be resolved. This was the place were we could celebrate and reminisce.” ~Darcy Nichols, director of the Pataka Museum in New Zealand and author of Land of My Ancestors. Objects of Belief from the Vatican: Art of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. February 9, 2013 - September 8, 2013. de Young Museum, San Francisco, California. -- source link
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