Art has always been an essential part of the Maori culture.  Traditional Maori art was created using the materials available at the time, such as wood, bone, pounamu (jade or greenstone), abalone (paua shell), flax and feathers. 

 

      Traditional artists helped keep the Maori culture alive by creating these unique works of art that resemble events and individuals in the past.  This was one way of communicating to the world their history.  Every piece tells a story; the shape of the heads, positions of body parts, even the patterns guide us to this story told. 

 

      The colors black, red, and white are featured in many of Maori art.  The color red is a symbol of mana (prestige, power or status) and is used in decorating important items such as buildings and structures around a marae, a place where formal greetings and events take place, or a waka, canoe.  The figures on Maori carvings are to represent ancestors of the tribe.

 

      One of the most symbolic carvings is on the Maori meetinghouse, a marae.  The house is red, symbolizing power and holding the highest status. The usage of these type of carvings and the use of the red color communicates the significance of this particular building.  This building is symbolic for a single person, typically an important tribal ancestor.  His head is represented as the mask on the center point on top of the Marae.  The boards that lead down represent his arms and typically have three fingers on each side.  There are individual carvings that communicate more tribal ancestors and gods related to that particular tribe.  On the interior the rafting carvings symbolize the ribcage and poles his spine.  The carvings communicate a visual aid for the tribe’s history for a culture with no written language.

 

      The most common figure in Maori carving is human figures and the manala, (a bird-like figure).   These figures are incorporated to accentuate the points of movement.  Ancestral figures are usually shown in a battle-like pose with a club in hand and eyes with tongue bulging.  A majority of these carvings are of wood with paua shell used to depict the eyes.  This figure is communicating to others the protection of evil forces.

 

      In addition to many techniques of carving the Maori culture use spirals in relief carvings.  They are almost always double and single spirals seen on stone decorations.   The works of the spirals designs are known as pitau.  The best Maori spiral designs are those that can be seen on canoes, window frames, carved houses, or door rafters.