Maori art exhibition opens in Malaysia

w Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute master carver James Rickard, director Karl Johnstone, George Town Festival director Joe Sidek, institute operations manager Raimona Peni and carver Lance Ngata in Penang, Malaysia where the Tuku Iho exhibition is on display

The New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute's Tuku Iho exhibition continues to be showcased throughout the world opening in Malaysia today.
The institute's director, Karl Johnstone said Tuku Iho, the Living Legacy will open with a special opening ceremony and run until September 15. It is part of Penang's hugely popular George Town Festival - a month-long festival of arts and culture.
"The exhibition also coincidentally falls at the same time as the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples (tomorrow). The timing of this with our kaupapa (programme) and the cross-cultural engagement with Malaysia, which has such a broad cultural diversity, is a perfect way to celebrate the day.
"The International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples is a chance to pay homage to indigenous communities around the world while promoting and protecting their rights," he said.
"Tuku Ihoa tribute to our Maori culture, unique to Aotearoa (New Zealand), and a way to extend our indigenous roots to those around the globe. It also helps New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute and Te Puia perpetuate and promote our culture and allows us to increase wider awareness of our stories, values and traditions; it is core to our mandate and the work we do."
Tuku Iho included art works using wood, pounamu (greenstone), bone, stone, bronze and flax mediums. New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute representatives will also be interacting with the arts community and visitors, providing insights about Maori culture and connecting the art to the people it comes from.
Mr Johnstone said Tuku Iho represented the passing down of knowledge to preserve cultural legacy and heritage and is primarily about building and nurturing relationships between cultures.
"We will also be running workshops following the opening of the exhibition on the making and use of traditional Maori weaponry. We are constantly looking to stretch the boundaries even further to engage people in our culture in new and innovative ways."
The exhibition is scheduled to go to Brunei, as its last destination in Southeast Asia, before heading to South America. It is scheduled to open at the cultural centre, Centro Cultural Gabriela Mistral in Santiago, Chile in March 2015.