Te Puia and New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute Rotorua

Te Puia’s 60 hectare site is home to the New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute, a live kiwi enclosure, the world-famous Pohutu Geyser, and more than 500 geothermal wonders. With land steeped in ancestral history, and a guiding legacy that stretches back to the 1800s, Te Puia extend their unique hospitality and rich cultural heritage to all visitors.

There is no accident that the national centre for excellence in Maori Art, the New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute, is here. It began as a wood carving school in 1926, thanks to revered Maori Leader Sir Apirana Ngata, and his friend master carver Hone Taiapa, of Ngati Porou. The school was reborn as the larger institute by Act of Parliament in 1963. While tourism focused ventures have grown up around it, the core of the Institute remains the education and refinement of the pinnacle of Maori Craft.

From the wood carving beginnings, operations expanded organically, with the weaving wing (Te Rito) opening in 1988, the greenstone, bone and stone school opening in 2011. The following year a special Waka carved at the centre was launched. Now they also teach Ta Moko (traditional skin tatooing). Culture is integral to the learning process, where students are instructed in all aspects of Maoridom, and expected to work very hard. The visitor may observe teachers and students at work, but not interrupt the creative process.

"Students of NZMACI operate as cultural conduits for their people. No effort is to be spared in utilising the services of recognised experts with carving, weaving and other skills so that these attributes can be passed on to suitable young people selected from various Maori iwi/tribes throughout New Zealand. Since its first beginnings, the Carving School and later the Weaving and Bone/Stone Carving Schools have focused their teaching on the development of a diverse range of traditional taonga Maori and in the styles of our most prominent traditions. Individuals with the support of their iwi have directly contributed to the knowledge assets of the Institute since its inception."

The associated Gallery, named Ahua, displays Maori works from all over New Zealand, not just the local wares, with strict standards for authenticity and quality. While Maori art has experienced a merging and fusion with other art forms from the 1980s onwards, Te Puia has remained true to teaching traditional skills, while acknowledging contemporary forms.

Te Puia is one of the few places which teaches and celebrates Maori Architecture, an specialist craft which is not well understood beyond the concepts of the Wharenui or traditional meeting house. For the visitor, there is much to see, from the traditional beauty of Rotowhio marae to the new sculptural showcase, Heketanga-a-Rangi. The site of the ancient Te Puia Pa, upon which the entire complex is based, has been preserved, and Pikirangi Village is a snapshot of pre-Paheka village life.

The showpeice is Te Puia's meeting house, Te Aronui-a-rua, which means basket of knowledge. Students built this whare between 1967 and 1981, to a standard rarely seen anywhere. It is adorned with carving, woven panels and every example of Maori craft. As well as this triumph, the students have created and restored over 40 more carved whare from around New Zealand, and continue to do so as part of the learning programme.

The onsite whare wananga (learning house) is also a magnificent carved creation, built in 1901 for the 1906 International Exhibition in Christchurch, but moved back. It is named for Te Arawa ancestor, Hatupatu, whose name features in a special part of downtown Rotorua, in the and in an interesting tale about a battle with a scary bird-woman.

Nearby are the purely geothermal attractions of Whakarewarewa Living Maori Village.

TE PUIA MAORI ARTS AND CRAFTS INSTITUTE WITH OPTIONAL PERFORMANCE

TE PUIA MAORI CULTURAL TOUR AND STEAMBOX (haangi) LUNCH

Image Credit: LBM1948 CC BY-SA 4.0