According to sacred Maori beliefs, a new exhibition at the
Shanghai Museum about the lives and culture of New Zealand's indigenous people will be overseen by an all-protecting deity.
Divine governance or not, this is undoubtedly one of the more unique shows the city's premier museum has presented in recent years.
The exhibition, Te Ao Maori: Maori Treasures from the Otago Museum, is co-organized between the Otago Museum based in Dunedin, and the Maori Advisory Committee (MAC) which is made up of local people from the Kai Tahu tribe, the largest extant Maori tribe in New Zealand.
War dance
Last Thursday, at about 1 pm, a group of Maori representatives appeared at the entrance to the museum, led by a church elder wearing a kahu kiwi, a Maori-styled cloak decorated with hanging feathers. Female members of the tribe wear a tassel-decorated cloak known as a korowai.
Welcomed by representatives of the museum and guests, the Maori group entered the museum and positioned themselves in the center of the hall. They began to sing and chant, with the female members performing the haka, a traditional welcoming "war" dance.
For the second part of the ceremony, the Maori representatives and their Chinese hosts enacted the traditional Maori greeting - the hongi - after which everyone enjoyed some desserts to round out the opening ceremony.
John Broughton, a member of the Maori delegation in
Shanghai and a professor of Maori culture at Otago University, told the Global Times that, for Maori people, it is crucial to hold this ceremony for such important occasions. "It is an indispensable part of the culture. It is our way to ask the deity for protection and to bless this exhibition in a foreign land so that it can go smoothly and successfully," he said.
Chen Kelun, deputy director of the
Shanghai Museum said: "The Maori are a spiritual people." He added that the Maori's spiritual and mythological system formed around the time their ancestors made the voyage from Polynesia across the Pacific Ocean in large double-hulled canoes, arriving in New Zealand sometime in the 13th century.
"This system mainly consists of three parts: epic voyages, creatures with supernatural powers, and heroic individuals who traversed the new territories," said Chen. "The Maori regards each of these three elements as representing the links between the world of the gods and the world of mortals. These myths are also the inspiration behind the Maori's earthly, material culture."
Chen told the Global Times that in the exhibition, the 332 exhibits are made from a diverse range of materials such as wood, stone, pounamu (New Zealand jade), flaxen threads and bone. The show features both contemporary artworks and pieces from different periods of Maori history.
Chinese connections
"They all vividly represent the daily life of ordinary Maori people throughout the ages. And another important point is that we have discovered there are similarities between Maori culture and ancient Chinese culture. The most obvious connection is jade worship which has been noted in three cultures - Chinese, Maori and the Maya in South America."
Broughton also pointed out that pounamu also has a special status in Maori culture and that the most outstanding pounamu creation is the hei tiki (necklace).
"It is highly treasured as a personal ornament and heirloom, and can be worn both by men and women. From its ancient origins in the mythological world of the Maori it is a tribute to the skills of Maori craftspeople. The hei tiki remains a treasure of supreme importance," Broughton told the Global Times.
Chen said that the other similarity to Chinese artifacts is the human figures made of wood. "The Maori wood carvings represent important ancestral figures," he said. "We discovered that these wooden figures all had short hair and tattoos on their faces, which was also the custom of ancient Chinese living in southeast China during the Spring and Autumn Period (770BC–476BC) and the Warring States (475BC–221BC)."
"And in the 1980s, a tomb from the Warring States period was unearthed in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, containing a copper figure of a man. The tattoo on his face is very similar to the tattoos on Maori wooden male figures," Chen said.
Broughton also emphasized the importance of tattoos. He told the Global Times that the male wooden figure has tattoos on almost every part of his face, while the female figure usually only has them under her chin. "This tradition is preserved to the present day, and the tattoo master is a very important position.
"And it has been proved that the DNA of Maori is very close to the indigenous people of Tai wan," Chen said. "There probably exists a special historical connection between the Maori and Chinese people."
Date: Until November 6, 9 am to 7 pm
Venue:
Shanghai Museum
Address: 201 People Avenue
Admission: Free
Call 6372-3500 for details
