Since the first contact between Māori and
Pākehā, Maori social and cultural objects were traded, taken and collected for inclusion in private collections and
museums. Among taonga collected were human remains. Reflective of museums at the time, these objects were collected, catalogued and displayed ethnographically, misrepresenting Māori and displaying them and their culture as a part of
natural history rather than creators of culture that might be exhibited in an artistic context.
Tamaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum holds a large collection of Māori taonga which historically followed an ethnographic framework to catalogue and display material culture. This approach is being challenged and revitalised through a
mātauranga Māori approach that looks at the collection through a Māori lens. Until the late twentieth century museum visitors and staff were unlikely to be Māori, and taonga were interpreted in the light of Western intellectual frameworks. One such example was a museum display of human remains, 'mokamokai' (now referred to as
toi moko; preserved heads of Māori, whose faces had been adorned with
tā moko). Displaying human remains of this kind was popular in Western museums, which Māori found both 'disappointing' and 'culturally insensitive.' Repatriation processes are now in place in many museums to return these ancestors home to New Zealand. In 1896, Māori activist,
Hana Te Hemara, organised the
Kakahu Fashion Project, which ran fashion shows with Maori designers alongside the
Te Maori: Te Hokinga Mai exhibitions in New Zealand. This was widely considered a more humanising display and celebration of Māori culture. Outside of a museum context, the
Māori renaissance had already begun, driven by leaders including
Āpirana Ngata and the
Māori Women's Welfare League. Many traditional crafts, including carving,
tukutuku and
kowhaiwhai, were being revived, along with the
Māori language. == Exhibition development ==