Piki te ora : the location of nga poropiti in contemporary Maori art

Abstract

The work of contemporary Maori artists that locates nga poropiti Maori is an evocation of the multi-faceted kaupapa associated with the movements. The structures and iconography that the nga poropiti utilised as an articulation of holding fast to the land and Maori values are referenced for that same purpose by the Maori artist in the present day. The settlers brought to Aotearoa many dungs, their chldren, their guns, their flags and their Bible. It was in the Old Testament that Maori saw their own story. The Israelites fighting for their promised land. They embraced this 'new' religon and fought in the name of God for their land, their identity. The innovative creative and practical responses by nga poropiti to the threat of colonisation found expression in European religious models and art forms and practises that the movements referenced. The borrowing was not intended as a means of alignment, by Maori, of the Pakeha spiritual or creative experience, it was intended as a mnemonic for purposes Maori. Much like the musket, Maori appropriated the Bible and the flags and turned them back on the British. There are many Maori flags, probably as many lost as those preserved. Their exact iconography forgotten but their messages remembered and reworked for the present day. The flags were made for battle and much blood has been shed because of what they stood for. These pieces of fabric, often crudely cut out and stitched have taken on sacred significance, they have become a war memorial to those who died for their land. The prophets came in peace, but their desire to retain tribal lands and cultural values was perceived by the Crown as militant and thus communities were put to the sword and dismantled. But you cannot take away the words and artistic expression of a people and so the message of the prophets continues today. By locating nga poropiti in the work of contemporary Maori artists I hope to celebrate their kaupapa, their art and the strength of these Maori leaders, in both their own time and ours.