Navigating Design History with a More Culturally Calibrated Compass
Abstract
It seems remiss that while New Zealand’s design prowess continues to impress globally, the indigenous and cultural knowledge that has for centuries inspired and informed aesthetic languages worldwide has not been recognised for its contribution. Forgotten, or perhaps conveniently ignored, is the praise of both the New Zealand Māori and Pacific people’s use of nature’s harmonies to achieve beauty in aesthetics made in 1852 by education and aesthetic reformist, Owen Jones (1809 -1874) in his seminal and determinative work, The Grammar of Ornament. In order to reinstate Jones’ claim, this paper asserts it is critical that we revisit design’s history from a less Eurocentric perspective. This offers an opportunity to debunk the counter-claim that indigeneity was counter-productive to the development of modernity. By recalibrating design’s history with a more accurate and culturally orientated compass, the contributions made by indigenous knowledge to the endeavours of some of design history’s most iconic contributors becomes tangible. Having made these connections, this study will introduce Māori and Pasifika ideologies of time, space and connectivity to demonstrate a pathway forward in which this knowledge can be understood, acknowledged, respected and most importantly appropriately included within design’s histories, current practices and future endeavours.
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