Toi Iho Maori Made Mark Launch - Quotes And Pics

Toi Iho Maori Made Mark - Quotes And Pics

Elizabeth Ellis, Chair of Te Waka Toi, the Mäori arts board of Creative New Zealand
“The Maori Made Mark, is an exciting and reputation-building initiative for Mäori art. It is a positive expression of tino rangatiratanga and recognises the value of Mäori art to New Zealand. It also means that New Zealanders and overseas visitors can be assured they are purchasing authentic, quality artworks by our outstanding Mäori artists ... The Mark will help create a demand for authentic, quality artworks, enabling many of our artists to command a premium price for their work - The Press, 30 January 2002

George Hickton, Chief Executive, Tourism New Zealand
“The Toi Iho Maori Made Mark is a selling point for New Zealand. Mäori culture is an important part of what makes New Zealand such a unique place in the world and the authenticity of what we can offer visitors is an integral part of this.”

Rod Mackenzie, General Manager Marketing, Trade New Zealand
Introducing a point of difference in products is good for New Zealand. “Brands do create value over time.” - New Zealand Herald, 26 January 2002

Aroha Mead, Senior Advisor Te Puni Kokiri, the Ministry for Mäori Development
“The Maori Made Mark is part of a world-wide trend for indigenous peoples to authenticate their arts and imagery. The Mark has been developed to promote Mäori arts and artists in the global market, provide Mäori artists with greater incentive to produce high-quality works and help maintain the integrity of Mäori culture. It also means that customers can be assured that when they purchase what they think is Mäori art, it actually is the real thing and not an import that’s been mass-produced in Southeast Asia.”

Dr Pita Sharples, Council member, Creative New Zealand, Mäori artist and educationalist
Mäori artists want to reclaim their täonga as most artefacts are now “churned out by machines,” both in New Zealand and Asia. “They grind down the bone and put it in a computer and out they pop. Minutes later you have several täonga. You have those Mäori heads with a tongue sticking out and they are so badly made and stylised and they actually sell for quite an exorbitant price. We have to fight against that.”
- Sunday Star Times, 6 January 2002

Mike Tamaki, of Tamaki Maori Village in Rotorua
“The success of the Tamaki Maori Village is proof that international visitors to New Zealand want authenticity. Carvings can attract a premium of 30 to 100 percent when hand made by a Mäori artist. Stamping them with the Mäori mark could push premiums higher. It could also raise the standard of work”

June Grant, Te Arawa artist and retailer
“As a retailer, I sell Mäori art offshore and it is generating huge foreign exchange for New Zealand. Mäori artists using the Mark will be able to command a premium price for their work because they will have a standard of excellence recognised by galleries, retailers and art dealers. This is the culmination of a 20-year dream by Mäori to have a
benchmark, a standing to which all Mäori artists can aspire. I applaud the commitment and integrity that Te Waka Toi has shown in initiating the Maori Made Mark.”

Sir Howard Morrison
“We have more of a response to endangered species in this country than we do to our own culture, which is in danger of being plagiarised.” - The Daily Post, 26 January 2002

Witi Ihimaera, writer
“The Maori Made Mark will validate, authenticate and recognise, both nationally and internationally, Mäori art and artists.”

Erenora Puketapu-Hetet, weaver
“The Mark will help us in the marketplace. It will help us survive as artists and ensure our täonga from Aotearoa are never lost.”

Jonathan Mane-Wheoki, Senior Lecturer in Art History at Canterbury University
“When I was on the Arts Council, I was fascinated by the constant appeal, insistence, by Mäori individuals and groups for Mäori art to be ‘protected’. The Maori Made Mark is Creative New Zealand’s way of keeping faith with that community … The Australian economy has benefited enormously, as has the country’s image from the international marketing success of Aboriginal art. The New Zealand economy, especially that section of it dominated by the tourism industry, stands to benefit from the targeted marketing of the living art traditions of the Mäori people.” - The Press, 30 January 2002

Moana Eruera, co-owner, Kura Gallery
“International customers are always asking whether the artist behind a particular artwork is Mäori. Americans, for example, like to buy an artwork or a piece, which also has some kind of story or some kind of whakapapa that goes with it. From a retail point of view, the mark will establish that the artist actually is Mäori. There are a number of Mäori artists out there who don’t look Mäori or have Mäori names. It also shows that the artist understands the significance of the Mäori designs incorporated in their work. There are people out there who just slap a koru on something without realising its spiritual significance.”

Ata Te Kanawa, Media Managing Director, TU Mai Media
“There is ample evidence of items, trinkets, woven products etc being produced in places like Singapore, then imported and sold in New Zealand. It is impossible to stop the free trade, but the mark will validate the Mäori artists’ work and guarantee its authenticity. This means the buyer will be able to distinguish which products are genuine. They can still go out and buy a tiki or bone carving for $12, but for a little extra they can buy an actual Mäori product.” - Capital Times, 30 January 2002

ENDS

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