Toi Whakairo or just whakairo (carving) is a Māori traditional art of carving

Carving

- Arts :*Bone carving*Chip carving*Gourd carving or Gourd art*Ice carving or Ice sculpture*Ivory carving*Stone carving**Petroglyph*Vegetable carving*Wood carving- Others :*Data carving and/or file carving, two closely related data recovery techniques...

. in wood, stone or bone. Wood was formed into houses, fencepoles, containers, taiaha

Taiaha

A Taiaha is a traditional weapon of the Māori of New Zealand.It is a wooden, or sometimes whale bone, close quarters, staff weapon used for short sharp strikes or stabbing thrusts with quick footwork on the part of the wielder. Taiaha are usually between in length...

 and tool-handles. Stone, preferably the very-hard pounamu (greenstone) was the chief material for tools of many kinds. Bone was used for fish hooks, needles and etc. Following the introduction of metal tools there was a substantial increase in decorative ornamentation, particularly in wood and bone carving.

The Māori Arts and Crafts Institute at Whakarewarewa

Whakarewarewa

Whakarewarewa is a geothermal area within Rotorua city in the Taupo Volcanic Zone of New Zealand...

 in Rotorua

Rotorua

Rotorua is a city on the southern shores of the lake of the same name, in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand. The city is the seat of the Rotorua District, a territorial authority encompassing the city and several other nearby towns...

 is a stronghold of traditional carving skills. Hone Taiapa

Hone Taiapa

Hone Taiapa, also known as John Taiapa was a Māori wood carver and carpenter of Ngati Porou descent. He was the younger brother of master Māori carver, Pine Taiapa. The two brothers worked closely with politician Sir Apirana Turupa Ngata on reintroducing Māori sculpture to the country after...

 was head of this school for some time. Since the Māori Renaissance

Maori Renaissance

The term Māori Renaissance refers to the revival in fortunes of the Māori of New Zealand in the latter half of the twentieth century. During this period, the perception of Māori went from being that of a dying race to being politically, culturally artistically and artistically ascendant.The...

 there has been a resurgence of interest in whakairo, alongside other traditional Māori practices, with a much greater integration with mainstream contemporary art

Contemporary art

Contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...

. The Māori Art Market

MAORI ART MARKet

Māori Art Market is biennial event inspired by the Santa Fe Indian Market. The publicly funded event features art exhibitions, art sales, live art demonstrations, such as wood carving and tattooing, as well as presentations and master classes. The focus is on Māori traditional arts and Māori...

 (funded by the state-sponsored Toi Māori Aotearoa

Toi Maori Aotearoa

Toi Maori Aotearoa is a charitable trust that promotes Māori traditional arts and Māori artists, both in New Zealand and overseas....

) is a significant venue for the promotion and sale of whakairo.

Many carvers express their practises in explicitly spiritual terms.

Notable carvers include

• Pineamine Taiapa (1901—1972)
• William Thomas Trethewey (1892–1956)
• Hori Pukehika (–1932)
• William Pierpont Black (1876?–1942)
• Eramiha Neke Kapua (1867–1955)
• Hone Te Kauru Taiapa (1911–1979)
• Inia Morehu Tauhia Watene Iarahi Waihurihia Te Wiata (1915–1971)

Te Papa

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is the national museum and art gallery of New Zealand, located in Wellington. It is branded and commonly known as Te Papa and Our Place; "Te Papa Tongarewa" is broadly translatable as "the place of treasures of this land".The museum's principles...

 and Auckland Art Gallery

Auckland Art Gallery

Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki is the principal public gallery in Auckland, New Zealand and has the most extensive collection of national and international art in New Zealand...

 have substantial holdings of whakairo, with Te Papa in particular having main digitised in their Collections online website.

Further Reading

• Archey, G., 1977 Whaowhia: Maori Art and Its Artists. Auckland, Collins.
• Barrow, T., 1963 The Life and Work of the Maori Carver. Wellington, Government Printer.
• Barrow, T., 1965 A Guide to the Maori Meeting House: Te Hau ki Turanga. Wellington, Dominion Museum.
• Barrow, T., 1969 Maori Wood Sculpture of New Zealand. Wellington, Reed.
• Brown, D., 1999 The architecture of the School of Maori Arts and Crafts. Journal of the Polynesian Society 108(3):241-276.
• Brown, D., 2003 Tai Tokerau Whakairo Rakau: Northland Maori Wood Carving. Reed, Auckland.
• Day, K., 2001 Maori Woodcarving of the Taranaki Region. Auckland, Reed.
• Firth, R., 1925 The Maori carver. Journal of the Polynesian Society 34(136):277-291.
• Kimura, A., 1991 "The heart of its people." New Zealand Historic Places 33:43-45.
• Mead, H.M., 1986 Te Toi Whakairo: The Art of Maori Carving. Auckland, Reed Methuen.
• Ngata, A.T., 1958 "The origin of Maori carving". Te Ao Hou 22:30-37, 23:30-33. full text
• Phillipps, W.J., 1941 Maori Carving. New Plymouth, T. Avery and Sons.
• Shadbolt, M., 1973 Pine Taiapa: Master Carver. New Zealand Heritage Vol. 6, Part 87:2433-6.
• Wilson, J. 1993 The Pride of Ngapuhi. New Zealand Historic Places 44:37-40.