Living tradition, New Zealand
Rotorua, Aotearoa New Zealand
A centre of Māori culture in Aotearoa New Zealand, where tā moko is practised and taught as part of a strong revival.
Rotorua, in the geothermal heart of New Zealand's North Island, is home to Te Arawa iwi and is a centre of Māori arts. Tā moko, the Māori art of marking face and body, has revived strongly since the 1970s and 1980s, and Rotorua's carvers, weavers and tā moko artists are part of that revival. Moko is now seen across New Zealand public life.
What moko means
Tā moko was traditionally carved with uhi, small bone chisels, leaving grooved lines. Men wore full-face moko and women moko kauae on the chin and lips. Each design is unique and records whakapapa, the wearer's genealogy, along with tribal identity and status. Under colonisation moko declined sharply. Today artists use both uhi and machines, and many Māori wear moko as an expression of identity.
Learning the arts
The New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute in Rotorua was set up by an act of Parliament in 1963 to keep carving, weaving and other arts alive, and runs schools on site. Tā moko artists in the city and elsewhere work with clients and their families to design moko. Non-Māori wearing designs inspired by moko, known as kirituhi, is debated in Māori communities.
Guides of Rotorua, Aotearoa New Zealand
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Face tattoo: Gottfried Lindauer, Public domain, source
- Tā moko: Gottfried Lindauer, Public domain, source