The Visual Arts, Animation and Film-making classes took a trip to visit the Tahu Potiki wharenui and Te Rau Aroha wharekai at Awarua, Bluff. This is the home marae to the storyteller who wrote the illustrated children's book we're basing our film. It is beautiful! It is full of carvings that are personal to the Maori of Bluff and to their unique whakapapa, or ancestry.
I love how the moko of the two figures at the center flow away and to their faces- are they like sun rays, emanating from the faces, or swirls of light penetrating the faces?
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| Cliff Whiting at work |
These are pictures I found on the internet of the inside of the Tahu Potiki, meeting hall, where we were not allowed to take photos. Bubba greeted us, we did a hongi (nose to nose "breath of life" greeting) line, had tea and something to eat in the dining hall, and then returned to the meeting hall for stories about the meaning of the different walls. Statues of the founding ancestresses of the Bluff Maori community stand around the walls, each one with a cabinet inside her front that holds special items revered by their descendants. Many of them had long pounamu pendants hanging from their necks and each was unique to the others- hair, clothing, colour. They were magnificent! They're the work of artist Cliff Whiting who enlisted the community in the late 90s to help him carve and decorate the two rooms.
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| dining hall |
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| The moon |
It's full of beautiful colours, woven mats on the walls, and scrolling murals of fish, eels, seafood, and birds from the area that have been important sources of kai (food) over the years. Afterwards, Bubba told us that the development of his children's books took four years and he was never satisfied with the art.
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