Mana!

Manaakitanga, Conviviality and Relational Art

Manaakitanga

"Behaviour that acknowledges the mana of others as having equal or greater importance than ones own, through the expression of aroha, hospitality and mutual respect. Displaying Manaakitanga elevated the status of all, building unity through the humility and the act of giving"

(Tau, 2005)

-Professor Whatarangi Winiata, Ngati Raukawa rangatira and president of the Maori Party

(Taken from note from Lecture 5, Grant Thompson)

'Mana' a word derived from manaakitanga, is how most people now-a-days refer to manaakitanga. Mana meaning authority/power. Youth of today use it more informally compared to elders. Ones mana being how tough one is, compared with the more traditional definitions.

My understanding of manaakitanga is what I refer to as Mana. The idea of strength, authority and the aura of power you exude.

Conviviality is defined as being 'the experience of being in a company who eat together' Illich connected the English word 'convivial' and the French 'convive' and came up with the word Conviviere that defines 'a member of a company who eat together'

(The new shorter Oxford English Dictionary 1993:504)

I understand conviviality to be something that you do/create/consume by yourself, that brings a social connection with others.

Relational Aesthetics (Art) relates well to the idea of Manaakitanga and Conviviality as it is the idea of Art being it's own form of strength and power, while having a social element which brings an audience to socialise or actively participate in the art.

By producing Art, both full of Mana(akitanga) and Conviviality you are successfully creating an environment where human beings are forced to socialise.

Whether be it by choice... or not.