On August 4, 2005, early risers in San Francisco's Maritime Park will see a contingent of elders and artists from New Zealand's indigenous Maori culture arrive on a waka (war canoe). Dressed in traditional finery, they will be welcomed by a delegation from California's native Ohlone Tribe.
The dawn ceremony kicks off the largest exhibition of Maori art in the U.S. in two decades. The 10-day show will take place at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Forum, beginning on August 5. Two dozen traditional and contemporary Maori cloaks (never before seen in the U.S.A.), kete (woven bags), ta moko (body tattooing), sculpture and clay works, will be on display. Gallery-goers can meet and mingle with New Zealand's leading weavers and moko tattoo artists, who preserve the past in contemporary Kiwi culture.
