Activity B: Exploring the patterns of nature within our cultures

Let’s explore the patterns and symbols of our ancestors’ stories and use them to create our own mark-making masterpieces.

Mark making has reflected cultural identity across cultures for all of time.

He pitopito kōrero

Māori have always known that different art forms such as pūrākau, mōteatea, whakairo, or raranga can be used as methods of understanding who we are, connecting us to those who have passed and to convey hidden messages or iwi.

Through whakairo, such as tekoteko, tūpuna are recognised and recorded. Through kōwhaiwhai patterns, iwi celebrate whakapapa, particularly inside wharenui on iwi. Even through moko, whakapapa may be expressed too.

Every culture has a visual language associated with it – a tradition of arts, symbols, abstraction, and colour that reflected who they are as people, and their relationship to the land. This visual language is often expressed inside art traditions such as carving, painting or weaving.

Patterns of my people

A string of clay beads in a coil. Some of the largerr beads are dark brown clay, some are white, and somc of them have red dots on them.

Whakapapa, 2021, by Stevei Houkamau (Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui). Purchased 2021. Te Papa (ME024669)

Whakapapa, 2021 by Stevei Houkāmau (Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, and Rangitāne) was inspired by rākau whakapapa and by rosary or prayer beads,

“With these taonga in my thoughts, I envisaged a large heirloom seed chain that could sit or hang that would represent my whakapapa. I could see myself running my hands down the chain and hear the kōrero of my whakapapa.”
– Stevei Houkāmau, 2021

Explore your cultural traditional patterns from the lands that your ancestors called home. To do this, begin by exploring the history of your ancestors. If you are non-Māori, try to find out information about where your ancestors came from before they arrived in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Depending on the ancestral story, you may need to go some way back in time to learn about traditional patterns. Create a mood board with samples of textiles, patterns, symbols and colours that reflect your ancestral makeup.

Using the moodboards that reflect ancestral stories, create simple clay beads with these patterns and shapes engraved upon them. Ākonga may also want to paint the beads to reflect the cultural colours of their ancestors landscape, art, or flags.

Defunct Mnemonics, by Peter Robinson; artist; 2012; Auckland. Purchased 2013. Te Papa (2013-0022-1/1 to 126)

Peter Robinson (Ngāi Tahu) installation Defunct Mnemonics, 2012, also launches off the tradition of rākau whakapapa to remember ancestry. Instead of creating notches for ancestral recall, Robinson created 126 sticks each encoded in its own pattern. The late Peter McLeavey, Robinson’s dealer, described these sculptures as ‘spirit sticks’.

Using this installation as inspiration, create a ‘spirit stick’ that reflects your unique whakapapa to display alongside your friends. Use card cut to a long and narrow shape, driftwood or perhaps building offcuts to paint stylised patterns upon that represent you and all the people who are standing behind you.