Cultural Pattern

Have you ever noticed all the different patterns in a wharenui? (meeting house on a marae). There are the tukutuku panels (woven wall panels), the kowhaiwhai (painted patterns commonly on rafters), and whakairo (carvings). We also looked at tā moko (traditional maori tattoos).

Kids designed their own kowhawhai patterns using koru shapes and reflection, rotation, repetition. 

We looked at pattern used in other cultures and reasons for pattern - identification (eg tartan),  to tell a story (eg aboriginal art), decoration, to represent something (eg kowhaiwhai), to calm and focus the mind (eg mandala / rangoli).