Kitsch

Archaeological Kitsch

Archaeological items of iconic status become the subject of modern copies and re-use of the imagery. New Zealand items are not immune.

Maori

Rock drawings seem to have been particularly prone to this - borrowings appearing on fabrics, glassware and stamps. O'Regan discusses this use in the context of cultural property. A scarf with many images from rock art. In the 1960s peanut butter was sold in packaging like these - which could be used as glases after they were emptied. Someone's idea of a nephrite adze - for sale as a replica on TradeMe Enamelled dishes, central one labelled by CERAWARE. Rock art used on a commemorative stamp Rock art used on a definitive stamp Rock art used on fabric. This was produced by blockprinting by poet Rex Fairburn. He obtained the artwork for this from Theo Schoon. Wikipedia has an article on Schoon. Another print can be seen here Fairburn and Schoon have Dictionary of New Zealand Biography entries.

Colonial

Barry Curtis Park in south Auckland has volcanic rock walls, reconstructed from a nearby farm site. The unfortunate result is what happens when landscape architecture captures archaeological reconstruction. Reconstructed walls The sign Walls Yet more walls