Māori Markings: Tā Moko

Māori artists tattoo people in the gallery space during the Māori Markings: Tā Moko exhibition. Tā moko is the unique Māori art of marking the skin with connecting patterns that tell of prestige, authority and identity. To receive and wear moko is a great cultural privilege. Māori Markings: Tā Moko explores this tradition, from its origin in the legend of Mataora and Niwareka and the earliest European records of the practice to its contemporary resurgence from the 1990s. Important early Māori sculpture, nineteenth-century prints, painting and photography and contemporary photography trace the story of this unique cultural art form.