This week (Monday 14 – Sunday 20 September) New Zealand celebrates the Māori Language Week. In the current national effort to stump out Covid-19 as the team of five thousand, I want to quote a Māori proverb.
Ko tēnei wiki (14-20 Mahuru 2020) te Wiki o te Reo Māori. Mō te whakanui o te kapa o ngā tāngata e rima miriona e whakakotahi ki te takapapa i te mate korona, māku te kī i tēnei whakataukī:
Ko Kāpene Tiapana tā mātou kiripuaki waimarie. Ko te rangatira rangatahi ia i tētahi rōpū o Te Taua Moana o Murakami. Ka mauria te pōtae mārō o te tipa e ia.
The Chinese zodiac goes around the cycle in 12 years. Its first zodiac is the year of the mouse as with this year, 2020. Coincidentally, I participated in an annual photo exhibition every year in the last cycle, from 2008 to 2019. Above is the gallery of my exhibits. They ware not themed with the animal of the corresponding year. Maybe in the next round.
Ka porowhita ngā ara matua Haina i ngā tau e tekau mā rua ai. Ko tēnei tau, 2020, te tuatahi o rātou. Ko te tau o kiore ināianei. I te porowhita tōmua, kua whai wāhi atu ahau ki te whakatauranga whakaahua a ngā hoa ākonga o mua ia tau, ia tau. Ko te kiriata runga ake āku tāpaetanga mō rātou. Kaore āhuatia ngā ara matua Haina e ēnei tāpaetanga, engari, a te porowhita hou, pea?
The design motif of our company logo is “Ama no Iwafune” (Japanese meaning “heavenly rock ship”), the legendary rock-solid vessel which can navigate between heaven and earth.
As our original design, it features the Pleiades as its sail. The stars have a great significance both in New Zealand indigenous Maori culture as “Matariki” and in Japanese traditional culture as “Subaru”.
Ukoh, a Japanese Kiwi tattoo artist living in Auckland, kindly presented us with this design. His works can be seen at his online tattoo gallery. He takes order for picture or design, just e-mail: ukoh.rain@gmail.com.
