Monday, April 5, 2010

East Cape Marae Detail


I've featured the Whitianga Marae on East Cape here before (click on the name in the label line below to see previous post), but it was one of my favourite stops on last year's East Cape trip, so I'm highlighting one of the carvings again. I particularly like the juxtaposition of this top carving against the corrugated iron backdrop. It's something of a statement about the coming together of two cultures in bicultural New Zealand. I spent a lot of time outside this marae. Perched on a hill overlooking Whitianga Bay, 51km from Opotiki, it had a prime spot - close to fishing resources, yet unseen from the road. I took dozens of photographs of their magnificent carved waharoa (gateway), which you can see in my previous post, etched in shadow across their grassy forecourt. Like most East Cape marae, it is heavily embellished with carving and painted detail - old and contemporary.

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