Māori and Pasifika art takes the MET
Māori artist(s) - Greenstone pendant (PHOTO: supplied/MET)
Tongan artist(s) - Female figure ('otua fefine) (PHOTO: supplied/MET)
Fijian artist(s) - Panel (Masi Kesa) (PHOTO: supplied/MET)
Photo:
Neil Mackenzie
A delegation of seven Māori and Pasifika artists are at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, for the grand reopening of the Arts of Oceania Galleries. The galleries are housed in the newly imagined Michael C. Rockefeller Wing, of the MET, which has been closed for renovations since 2021. The Oceania Galleries have 500 years of art from our region.
And it was in these galleries that the 1984 Te Māori exhibition took place, a huge step in the journey to elevate Māori and Pacific art from being viewed as 'anthropological artefacts' - to a living, dynamic cultural expression.
Photo:
Dr Maia Nuku
Overseeing The Arts of Oceania galleries in New York is MET Curator Maia Nuku. Mihi speaks with Maia and Puamiria Parata-Goodall, who was a rangatahi performer for Te Māori when it toured the US from 1984-1986.
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