Māori tube map in London

19 June 2008

Media Release

Māori tube map in London

A giant London tube map painting with all stations in Māori is on exhibition in London this month. New Zealand artist Shona Moller’s (English/Māori) work is entitled ‘tu be’ in which she has taken the iconic London Tube map and replaced all the English place names with Māori names.

The exhibition is in Gallery 47, Bloomsbury, London, which has also been home to Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, Virginia Woolf and Bob Marley works. “Shona’s work takes our culture and language into an international arena that will be appreciated by people from the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia and America. It will also elevate people’s awareness of Aotearoa, New Zealand, through our indigenous language and culture”.

Māori language and culture offers an important point of difference for New Zealand tourism on the world stage. International visitors have a strong interest in indigenous culture.

“Māori language distinguishes Aotearoa from the rest of the world. This is evident after the huge success of Te Māori exhibition back in 1984 and Toi Māori in 2005, that took Māori art to the world and also opened the eyes of many New Zealanders”, says Huhana Rokx, Chief Executive of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori.

ENDS

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