Colour+My+World

Colour My World Our Current Inquiry The colours of Pre European Maori Artifacts tell us about the people and the places that they lived…

Traditional Maori art was produced using the raw materials found around New Zealand's natural landscape. The Maori used materials such as wood, bone, and shell as the basic canvases for their artistic creations and before their introduction to European metal tools, the Maori constructed their own tools for scraping, carving, and painting. Red, black, and white were the most commonly-used colors in Maori art and often symbolized certain social rankings within Maori society. Traditional Maori art incorporated symmetrical curves and spirals as well as representations of human ancestors or god-like forms ([|tiki]), bird-like creatures (manaia), merman or sea monsters (marakihau), and lizards (moko).