Year 5 students from Haileybury Brighton explored coiled ceramic hand-building techniques and the artwork of indigenous Maori artists from New Zealand.

The term tiki is applied to carved human figures, both by the Maori and by other Polynesians. The name possibly has some connection with the myth of Tiki, the first man created by Tane. Pou Pou or slabs were used to support the heke (rafters) of the Marae or Maori meeting house.

They depicted carved representations of figures of the main ancestors of the Maori people of New Zealand. Later they lined the walls of Marae and were carved to depict Maori ancestors and to tell tribal stories. They are known as Poupou figures.

Students used clay and coil techniques to create an authentic warrior-style figure inspired by Tiki and Poupou figures of the Maori culture. They added a pattern and line background using oil pastel, inspired by Maori pattern and line artworks.

Artwork provided by
Judith Robertson
Haileybury College, Brighton