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Story: New Zealand culture overseas

Poster for Te Māori exhibition

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Poster for Te Māori exhibition

This poster advertised the Te Māori exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in 1985. Te Māori, which included taonga (treasures) from iwi throughout New Zealand, travelled to the United States in 1984, and after several years there toured New Zealand in 1986–87. Māori played the leading role in organising the exhibition and the traditional ceremonies held when it opened at different venues. The reception of the exhibition in the United States influenced attitudes in New Zealand towards Māori culture, in particular its spiritual dimension.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: Eph-E-MAORI-1984-01

Courtesy of Mobil New Zealand

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Nancy Swarbrick, New Zealand culture overseas – Art, craft and design, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/ephemera/45843/poster-for-te-maori-exhibition (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Nancy Swarbrick, published 26 June 2014.