gold speedos and liquorice sticks. It's all conviviality!

In todays lesson we were presented with three items of interest. Manaaakitanga, Conviviality, and Relational art, all of which supposedly relate to one another in some kind of way. At first it was hard to come to grips with what was being said, but after a while I began to have a better understanding of the three, and how they linked in with each other.

Manaakitanga is the act of acknowledging the mana of others with greater or equal value to your own. This could be through generosity, respect, affection, or welcome. For example,If I, were to host an evening of sort with food and drink for all of my friends, and my friends friends to enjoy, this would be considered a good token of my appreciation towards them. In other words, I would have a good understanding of Manaakitanga - love, generosity and hospitality. Especially by taking special attention to my guests whom I have not met before, and making them feel welcome. I could better my social status amongst my friends and family by providing them with good food, good company, and gain a better communal respect. The quality of your own humble-ness contributes solely to your manaakitanga. If you are one that is known to have good manaakitanga, if you are lucky, by word of mouth you may gain more mana.

Celebrations such as this must always be made to abundance. There must always be food to spare for guests to take home and give to their families. This is why perhaps that back when traditional Haraki's were most popular, the food would be placed over vast wooden structures for displayal and decoration. It made the occasion of a feast seem grand and over generous. The large linear forms are still seen in today's modern Haraki's, as food is still placed on angular shelfes to give a sense of over abundance. Many cups and plates are set out to add to the anticipation of the feast. This is also a decorative way of setting out the Haraki.

Conviviality is the expirience of being sociable within the company of those who are eating and interacting together. By having manaakitanga, you are creating a convivial environment for your guests to grow and flourish, and your mana will prosper in the company of your home. This is how these two relate to eachother in the terms of humble catering and hospitality.

Relational art is much the same in the way that it creates conviviality. It pushes people together to view and talk about art. it is interactive and often involves people doing something, or even simply taking an item away for themselfs to keep. An example of this was Felix Gonzales Torres' work, as it involved a seemingly endless rectangle of liquorice sweets, which people could come in and enjoy, talk about and view the art. The Sweets were constently being renewed ( much like manaakitanga involves food needing to be in abundance) and it made the viewers feel comfortable about chatting in the gallery with eachother. This sense of convivial conduct brought warmth and happyness. Humour also plays a part in the idea of conviviality, such as the video we viewed where it was the artwork (a man clad in a gold speedo, dancing his thing out) that was interacting with the people in the exibit.