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The Maori tribe of New Zealand is considered rich in its arts and crafts culture. The Maori specialized in weaving exquisite fabrics, carving wood and stone figurines and in te moko or tattooing. The Maori were exceptionally skilled artisans and their wooden carvings and hand-woven flax are coveted souvenirs to the tourists of New Zealand. However carving on wood used to be subject to rituals and religious (Tapu) decrees were followed scrupulously. Carved beams and pillars, masks and idols of the Maori were famed and the use of straight lines characterized their art. With the advent of colonial influences and the influx of settlers in New Zealand, the arts and crafts of the nation took on a more western outlook. Water and oil painting grew and flourished while the natives also took to crafts such as bone carving and ceramic sculpting. New Zealand is studded with art galleries and craft studios which showcase the consummate talent hidden in the country and a visit to one of these is an enlightening experience to the visitor. The tourists of this country indulge themselves and pick up the vivid water colors, oil paintings, hand crafted jewellery, hand-blown glass and ceramic household articles, wooden and stone sculptures and showpieces, flax textiles and other articles of Maori craft as treasured keepsakes of their holiday.
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