Lens on the World – Brian Brake

Our walk along the waterfront ended at our destination, the Te papa Museum.  We joined the crowds of people streaming into our marvellous national museum, all busy to see what was on offer. 

Waterfront view of Te Papa Museum

The reason for our visit was to view the Brian Brake exhibition.  Brian Brake was New Zealand’s most successful photo journalist.   Although he was incredibly well known for his work, we didn’t know a great deal about him, or his life.  We were interested to see this collection of his life’s work.

His interest started as a schoolboy when he attended a photography club in Christchurch.  There were many examples of his early black and white prints of New Zealand mountain scenes.  As we moved further into the exhibition, I noticed a sign prohibiting photos.  Oh dear, just as well they hadn’t seen me take this, my first and last one inside the exhibition.

Somewhere on a NZ mountaintop

Brain Brake‘s work was published internationally in Life, Paris Match and National Geographic magazines.  He is remembered today for his rare photographs of Communist China in the 1950s.  He loved living and working in Asia and produced beautiful images  from the Asian countries.  I particularly liked the photo of the Sanzen-in Temple in Japan.  It showed a black silhouette of a monk through the window of a temple, also in silhouette, set against a flame red tree glowing in the sunshine.

It was interesting reading that he was not happy with his Hadrian Wall photos, which were originally shot in summer.  He felt that the images taken did not adequately portray the miserable conditions of the Roman Centurions, and asked to be able to return in winter when snow was forecast.  When the conditions were right, he flew back from Algiers to London, was chauffeured by limousine,  and completed the journey by helicopter.  This extra travel cost Life magazine US$5000.00, a huge amount for extra photos in 1965.  It goes to show that he was a perfectionist in his work.

His beautiful New Zealand book, Gift of the Sea, is full of stunning scenes.  This book has been re-published several times, and this image of Milford Sound is just one of a whole series of photos of natural beauty.

Milford Sound

Brian Brake died of a heart attack in 1988.  His entire collection of photographs is now housed at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

Interested in fashion?  We also checked out the Enriching Fashion exhibition on our visit to Te Papa.  Read all about it on our other blog:   www.romanyquilting.blogspot.com

Out Houses

There wasn’t much rambling going on over the weekend as we were staying close to home while I was recuperating from my dental experience. So we thought we would share some more photos from our last visit to Te Papa Museum, in Wellington. These are decorated “out houses”, also known as “portaloos” here in New Zealand. This imitation timber one would look right at home in a rural setting.

“Maurice” is just right for the kids, don’t you think? It is covered in red plush fabric, with bulging eyes and pointy teeth. But then, maybe they would be too scared to open the door and get past that scary face.

Guess which one was my favourite? Here’s me, sitting under the drapes on the golden throne with a royal sceptre in my hand. I hasten to add that I was encouraged to sit there by the promoters and have my photo taken.

The display was a fund raiser for bowel related health issues. As well as raising awareness of these problems, the display certainly gained a few laughs too.

Paperskin – the art of tapa cloth

When we visited Te Papa Museum several weeks ago, we were very interested to see a demonstration on making tapa cloth. This return visit was to view the exhibition “Paperskin”. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos inside the exhibition, and were only permitted to take this one of the entrance. All other photos are courtesy of Te Papa’s website.

This way to the exhibition

Taking pride of place was the magnificent 23 metre long ngatu launima which has royal connections. The imagery includes royal crowns, geometric patterns, and floral motifs. Made in 1953 to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II’s visit to Tonga, we noticed that the name Elizabeth is painted inside each of the crowns. It was later placed under Queen Salote’s coffin when her body was flown back from New Zealand in 1965. The tapa was given to Flight Lieutenant McAllister, who piloted the plane which took Queen Salote’s body back to Tonga, and he in turn presented it to the Museum in 1968. This huge piece of tapa cloth dominated the exhibition room with it’s sheer size, and this photo does not do it justice.

Examples of tapa cloth from Hawaii, Tahiti, Fiji, Cook Islands, Samoa, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea were hung, and the designs were clearly different amongst the island communities. Bark from the paper mulberry tree, the banyan and breadfruit trees is all used by the different islanders to make tapa cloth.

Tapa cloth from American Samoa

There was a large selection of ceremonial masks on display, some being very tall at 4 metres high, which are worn by women. The smaller men’s masks are usually destroyed after the ceremony. Made with a wicker frame, they are covered with tapa cloth. An unusual double headed crocodile was made to be carried during dancing rituals.

Mask in likeness of fruit bat

Some of the tapa cloth was extremely old. There was a fragment of Hawaiian cloth that was reputed to have been collected during Captain James Cook’s voyage in the 1770s. We are well aware that this craft is extremely time consuming and it was interesting seeing so many examples produced by the different South Sea Islands over such a long time frame. If you are visiting Wellington we can certainly recommend a visit to “Paperskin”.

The Treasured Stone of Aotearoa

We took a trip to Wellington on Sunday, but first we had to defrost the car windows. That’s what happens when you leave the car out of the garage overnight and wake up to a heavy frost. Robin was busy with the scraper getting the ice off the windows.

Ice on the windscreen

We were off to Te Papa Museum to view the current Greenstone Exhibition. This stone is known as Pounamu “The treasured stone of Aotearoa”. Greenstone is a stone of exceptional mana (prestige) beauty and strength and the exhibition featured 200 plus pieces. It is found in the South Island rivers and to the untutored eye looks just like a river boulder in its natural state.

Large piece of greenstone

Maori artisans fashioned pounamu into personal ornaments such as hei tiki (neck pendants), ear pendants, mere (greenstone weapons), and adzes. According to the Ngati Waewae people of the South Island’s West Coast, pounamu was once a beautiful woman called Waitaiki, from the Bay of Plenty. Poutini, a son of Tangaroa (the god of the sea), fell in love with Waitaiki and abducted her from her husband, Tama-ahua. The couple were chased by Tama-ahua to the Arahura River on the West Coast of the South Island. To prevent Waitaiki being taken back, Poutini transformed her into greenstone. Poutini is acknowledged as the spiritual guardian of pounamu. The mere are a symbol of status and authority and there were several fine examples on display.

Three mere (greenstone clubs)

The tiki is a treasured neck pendant and it has been suggested that this ornament is a fertility charm representing the human embryo, and that it should be worn only by women. However, early European visitors saw men wearing the hei-tiki and it is probable that the squat shape of the figure was influenced by the hardness of the material and that it was later likened to an embryo and endowed with magical powers. We saw many examples of early tiki on display.

Tiki of various sizes on display

In ancient times the extremely hard greenstone was worked by abrasion, with water, sand, and sandstone and a small tiki would require a huge number of hours of labour. Saws were a thin stone assisted by wet abrasive sand. Files were made from a variety of material including sharkskin for rough polishing. For cutting, the Maori used dog's teeth and other skins were used for the final polishing. These days the artisans can use power tools which speed up the process considerably.

Close up of a tiki

This was a very interesting exhibition and some of the pieces on display are very old. Traditionally Maori jewellery are taonga (treasure) and the belief is that they should only be given as gifts and they are not to be bought for ones self.

Tongan Tapa

The noise sounded like the rhythm of beating drums to us as we entered Te Papa Museum. A closer look showed us that it wasn’t drums at all, but strips of bark laid over a wooden block, and beaten out thin with a grooved wooden mallet. A Tongan church group were demonstrating the ancient art of making tapa cloth. The commentator told the crowd of fascinated onlookers all the steps that needed to be taken to produce this highly revered and labour intensive cloth. The village men plant and tend the paper mulberry trees, and then cut the branches to strip the bark. These long thin strips are first dried in the sun, then soaked. Bang, bang, bank, the 3 inch strip of bark was beaten to twice it’s width in no time at all.

Beating the bark with a wooden mallet

When the strips are thin enough, several are butted up and beaten together into a large sheet, with starch rubbed on to the joins to help them stick together. Tapa cloth is made up of two layers, with one large piece on the top layed over the lower sheet. More starch is rubbed on to help the two sheets stick together. The women worked competently together and the spokesperson kept up a running commentary. We were shown how the designs were made by laying stencils underneath then rubbing dye all over the cloth. The stencils are simply made. Thin smooth sticks are laid over sacking in the required pattern, then bound in place.

Prepared stencils ready to be placed under the cloth

The first lot of dye is then rubbed all over the tapa cloth. The pattern from the stencils underneath start to stand out clearly.

The first stage of adding colour

Later the tapa cloth is repainted in several colours to bring the designs to life. A trio of Tongan youngsters were enjoying themselves as they knelt together on the floor painting a piece of cloth. When they saw our cameras they asked us, “Would you like us to look up?” What beautiful smiles they had.

These days, tapa cloth is still often worn on formal occasions such as weddings, and given as gifts for weddings and funerals. It is also highly prized for its decorative value and is often used as a wall hanging in Tongan homes.

Colourful tapa cloths

The work was still taking place later in the morning as we looked down from the balustrade above. The sound of the wooden mallet beating the bark reverberated up the stairs, and the women were singing softly as they worked together. These sounds of the Islands reminded me of a trip I took to Tonga many years ago, when I heard the villagers working on their tapa cloth every day.

Looking down from above