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Our kaupapa for this course will be te aitanga pepeke to make and talk about artworks. We will look at a variety of artists from historical to contemporary that use our critters as their subject matter. We will act as Kiatiaki [guardians] by bringing awareness through our art.
We will use a variety of materials and media to explore a range of art techniques. You will be assessed through Focus studies where you will apply learned skills in media.
Guardianship, stewardship, protection, preservation of taonga.
In Te Ao Māori there lies a deep relationship between humans and the natural world. All life is connected. Everything has a “mauri” or life force.
The forest and woodlands have a mauri that enables insects and woodland life to live. Furthermore, take away or damage the mauri and a whole community could suffer. Finally, as a part of “protection” one of the operating principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, these taonga should be cared for.
Māori believed that the life principle or mauri of a forest could be concentrated into objects such as stones and thereby protected and fostered. Stones were chosen for their unusual shape or appearance, and buried in significant places such as at the foot of well-known, bird-frequented trees.
Keeping the balance
Keeping the balance
There are about 20,000 different types of insects in New Zealand. Because the country has been isolated in the middle of the Pacific Ocean for millions of years, most of these insects (over 90%) are found nowhere else.
Insects are not always easy to see. Many tunnel underground or into wood, or live deep in the bush or high up in the mountains. Small and dull-coloured, they blend in with their surroundings.
Protection
Customary practices maintained the balance between communities and nature. For activities such as hunting birds, gardening and fishing, this ensured that resources were managed sustainably. We can do this by protecting our native species and areas of native woodlands and wet zones. We can also limit our use of insecticides and plant a variety of flowering plants in our gardens.
RESEARCH:
RESEARCH:
You need to select a NZ insect to study through research and drawing.
Start to look at what insect you would like to study - Click here to continue learning about the importance of pepeke in Maori culture
Here are 2 good links to identify what birds are native and endemic to NZ...DoC A-Z of invertebrates & What is this bug?
Research information about your chosen critter [food, habitat, importance to Maori culture, English and Te reo name] and collect a range of images of them as well [ think whole body, close ups, from the front ]
Produce two pages in your visula diary where you sketch examples of your insect and surround it with key points of information.
Unique insects
Unique insects
Among the most striking native insects are wētā, which look like giant grasshoppers without wings. New Zealand batflies depend entirely on short-tailed bats for food, transport and shelter. New Zealand is home to the world's only marine caddisflies, which live on coastal rocks.
There some species that are flightless or wingless in New Zealand, but whose overseas relatives can fly. The mole cricket or honi is the world’s only mole cricket without wings. Because it has no wings to rub together to make sound, it is silent.
Unique insects
Unique insects
Among the most striking native insects are wētā, which look like giant grasshoppers without wings. New Zealand batflies depend entirely on short-tailed bats for food, transport and shelter. New Zealand is home to the world's only marine caddisflies, which live on coastal rocks.
There some species that are flightless or wingless in New Zealand, but whose overseas relatives can fly. The mole cricket or honi is the world’s only mole cricket without wings. Because it has no wings to rub together to make sound, it is silent.
Looking after the pollinators in your garden
Looking after the pollinators in your garden
Cut your lawn less and don’t worry about letting clover flowers grow. They are food for bees. Let dandelions flower and mow them before they go to seed. Think about cutting smaller areas of lawn on a rotation so there are more flowers for pollinators.
Use insecticides and other garden chemicals carefully.
Do you need a chemical to do the job? For example, you could pull out weeds or squash pests by hand. You could use a net to protect garden vegetable crops from caterpillars. You could use boiling water to spot-kill weeds or moss on your paths.
Leave patches of garden to grow wild and don’t spray chemicals there. Remember, some flowering weeds are valuable food sources for pollinators. Leave areas of long grass as shelter for our pollinator insects.
Make clean pesticide-free water available, either in a pond or water feature. You could also fill a saucepan with water and put some twigs or pebbles in for bees and insects to land on while they drink. Keep it in the shade so the water doesn’t get too hot.
Don’t disturb insect nests.
Have some banks of earth or bare soil in your garden. Native bees nest in these. Or make a backyard bee hotel for them to build nests – fill pots with sticks or bamboo and secure them in a sheltered place.
Chat with your neighbours, family and friends about looking after pollinators. Share cuttings and seeds from pollinator-friendly plants to reduce costs. Find out about looking after your pollinators on community land or in schools.
*TIP when using google images search click on "tools" and change the size to medium or large for best quality images. You should also change usage rights to commercial to ensure you are not "stealing" other peoples copyrighted work'.
Useful websites
https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/birds/birds-a-z/
https://goodmagazine.co.nz/messages-from-birds-new-zealands-native-birds-are-the-tweeters-you-should-pay-attention-to/#:~:text=Kerer%C5%AB%20Wood%20Pigeon%3A%20Abundance
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