San Francisco Embraces Maori Art

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

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