page_title: Cook Islands art
section_title: Carving
hierarchical_section_title: Cook Islands art / Carving
caption_attribution_description: English: Head of a staff god made of casuarina wood. A figure in low relief is carved at the top of the notched spine and the ears of the main figure are pierced. Length: 112 centimetres Width: 16 centimetres
context_page_description: Wood carving is a common art form in the Cook Islands. Sculpture in stone is much rarer although there are some excellent carvings in basalt by Mike Tavioni. The proximity of islands in the southern group helped produce a homogeneous style of carving but which had special developments in each island. Rarotonga is known for its fisherman's gods and staff-gods, Atiu for its wooden seats, Mitiaro, Mauke and Atiu for mace and slab gods and Mangaia for its ceremonial adzes. Most of the original wood carvings were either spirited away by early European collectors or were burned in large numbers by missionary zealots.
  Today, carving is no longer the major art form with the same spiritual and cultural emphasis given to it by the Maori in New Zealand. However, there are continual efforts to interest young people in their heritage and some good work is being turned out under the guidance of older carvers. Atiu, in particular, has a strong tradition of crafts both in carving and local fibre arts such as tapa. Mangaia is the source of many fine adzes carved in a distinctive, idiosyncratic style with the so-called double-k design.
context_section_description: Carving was an important part of ancient Cook Islands culture, although much of this is lost. Ancient Cook Islanders carved the poles of their huts, their canoes and weapons (clubs and spears). The patterns used were the same as that used in tattooing and dyed on tapa cloth. It is believed that families had their own symbols, much like some British families have crests.
caption: A staff-god made of casuarina wood.