If you have seen the All Blacks performing the haka before a game, you will understand my fascination with the Maori culture. I must confess, I am not a rugby fan - my enthusiasm for the sport only ever emerges if the Boks are playing in some international final- and even then it's the camaraderie around the matches that enthuses, not the actual game itself. I am discovering that it is a definite followed sport in France though. That aside, I will go through all the pre-game rituals; drinks? check! snacks? check! remote? check - just to see the haka in any game, Boks playing or not.
Then came the movie Whale Rider and and that just fed my interest further. Today I made it a point to get to Musée du Quai Branly early to take in the current Maori exhibition. I was not disappointed.
It covers everything - the history, the culture, the Maori need for self-determination past and present. Well-curated and a truly fascinating exhibit.
Musée du Quai Branly
37 Quai Branly
75007 Paris.
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| A modern-day take on the waka |
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| Bone, greenstone and jade carvings |
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