The Maori Meeting House: Introducing the Whare Whakairo

Enter and explore the powerful, ancestral world of the whare whakairo,or Māori meeting house, with this engaging illustrated guide.

Richly illustrated with more than 100 historical and contemporaryphotographs and original watercolour illustrations, The Māori Meeting House celebrates every aspect of these magnificent taonga (treasures) – their historyand art forms, symbolism and cultural significance.

In a clear, informative and personal narrative, Damian Skinnerbrings together existing scholarship on whare whakairo and his own reflectionsas a Pākehā art historian and curator, with reference to meeting houses fromall over Aotearoa New Zealand and the world. The voices of carvers, artists,architects, writers, experts and iwi are woven into the text, to give everyreader new ways of seeing these taonga – whether it is your first view or yourhundredth.

Equal parts history, personal essay and illustrated guidebook,The Māori Meeting House is an important contribution to contemporary discussionsabout Māori art and art history.

"A welcome addition to the growing body of literature on the modern meeting house as a statement of Māori identity, culture and mana." – Ranginui Walker

"This fine book is deeply felt and researched, gorgeously illustrated and eloquently written. It breathes respect and admiration for the artists and communities who produced these masterworks, taonga that adorn the landscapes of Aotearoa. A work to spend time with, and cherish." – Dame Anne Salmond

“A welcome addition to the growing body of literature on the modern meeting house as a statement of Maori identity, culture and mana. Ranginui Walker”

A welcome addition to the growing body of literature on the modern meeting house as a statement of Māori identity, culture and mana. Ranginui Walker
This fine book is deeply felt and researched, gorgeously illustrated and eloquently written. It breathes respect and admiration for the artists and communities who produced these masterworks, taonga that adorn the landscapes of Aotearoa. A work to spend time with, and cherish. Dame Anne Salmond

Damian Skinner is an art historian, writer and curator. He is interested in the history of cultural contact between Maori and Pakeha, and the relationship between art and politics in Aotearoa New Zealand. He has written numerous books, including The Carver and the Artist: Maori Art in the Twentieth Century (2008) and The Passing World, The Passage of Life: John Hovell and the Art of Kowhaiwhai (2010), which won the New Zealand Post Book Award for Illustrated Non-fiction in 2011. Damian is currently Curator of Applied Art and Design at the Auckland War Memorial Museum Tamaki Paenga Hira.

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