Te Maori: Te Hokinga Mai

Te Maori: Te Hokinga Mai
New Zealand touring exhibition of Māori art, 1986–1987

Te Hokinga Mai (Māori: the return home) was a touring exhibition of Māori art gathered from major museum collections throughout New Zealand. The exhibition was initially organised by the American Federation of Arts and toured four North American cities as Te Maori (sometimes Te Māori in modern sources) in 1984 to 1986. Upon completion of the North American tour the exhibition returned to New Zealand in 1986 and was rebranded Te Maori: Te Hokinga Mai - The Return Home. It toured to the four major metropolitan centers in New Zealand; Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.

Background

The Te Maori exhibition opened at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in September 1984. The exhibition featured 174 customary carved Māori art items from the collections of 12 museums in New Zealand. The exhibition met with such success in North America that a New Zealand tour was planned. Upon it's return to New Zealand in 1986 the exhibition was rebranded and travelled the country starting at the National Museum, Wellington (August - October 1986), Otago Museum, Dunedin (November 1986 - February 1987), the Robert McDougall Art Gallery, Christchurch (March - May 1987) and finally to the Auckland Art Gallery (June - September 1987).

Development

The exhibition was initially organised by the American Federation of Arts under the curatorship of Douglas Newton of the New York Metropolitan Museum, David Simmonds, of the Auckland Museum and Hirini Moko Mead. As part of its New Zealand tour as Te Hokinga Mai new art works were added including textiles.

Art works

The Te Maori exhibition featured 174 unique and ancient Māori art treasures. While lauded for putting Māori art on the global stage, the exhibition also received criticism for its exclusion of arts associated with Māori women and contemporary art. The return to New Zealand as Te Hokinga Mai enabled some of these criticisms to be addressed.

New Zealand tour

In 1986 and 1987 the exhibition toured to the four metropolitan centers of New Zealand, Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. It was the most expensive exhibition ever to tour New Zealand but due to a further financial commitment from the primary sponsor Mobil New Zealand it remained free entry.

Reception

As Te Māori made international headlines, New Zealanders awoke to the nation’s unique Māori point of difference and the public appetite for a national tour grew. Māori leaders saw the tour as a chance for more Māori to interact with their heritage. On its return to New Zealand, the exhibition was rebranded and the organising committee worked with each venue to facilitate wider Māori participation.

Legacy

Te Hokinga Mai precipitated and inspired more Māori to work in museums and galleries. With these new professionals came increased use of Māori customs and language within these institutions. Increased exposure to Māori relationships to their art or taonga as living treasures resulted in repatriation programmes between overseas museums and New Zealand.