Toi Maori Aotearoa
Saturday 6 August
San Francisco is embracing Maori arts with nearly 1500 people through a major exhibition in its opening afternoon.
Toi Maori - art from the Maori people is part of the Maori Art Meets America event - a joint project between Toi Maori
Aotearoa and Tourism New Zealand. The exhibition includes Te Aho Mutunga Kore / The Eternal Thread, a weaving exhibition
that has started a touring exhibition of the United States. Other components of it are carving, clay work, ta moko, and
jewellery.
Creative director Darcy Nicholas said the response from San Francisco people had been overwhelmingly positive.
"We're thrilled with both the number of people tha have come through the exhibition and the interaction that is occuring
between our guests and the artists," he said.
An important part of the exhibition is the live demonstrations by artists including weaving, taonga puoro (traditional
Maori instruments) and ta moko.
With wide media coverage since the opening dawn ceremony on Thursday morning (Friday NZ time) organisers are expecting
large crowds over the weekend. The coverage included three photographs and a story on the front page of the local news
sections of the areaslargest paper, The San Francisco Chronicle.
Tonight's activities include the launch of two books, Darcy Nicholas: The Land of My Ancestors published by Nicholas
Press and Eternal Thread, Te Aho Mutunga Kore published by Huia Publishers.
ENDS