The matau was an efficient design of fish hook, leading to it being reproduced in large numbers.

Developed as part of the art project series "Ghosts in the form of gifts" commissioned by Massey University Wellington, New Zealand in 2009.

Project page: http://bronwyn.co.nz/projects/gifts/

The series won the 2010 Award for Open Source in the Arts (NZ)

Ghosts in the form of gifts is a series of objects that are replicas of artifacts imagined as lost, hidden or misregistered during the Museum of New Zealand’s tenure in the former Museum Building on Buckle St, now occupied by Massey University’s College of Creative Arts. The objects have been created through a process of drawing, digital 3D rendering, and finally printing with the RepRap.

The digital files for the artefacts are freely available for educational re-use under a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license

Search the tag "Ghosts in the form of gifts" for other objects in the series.

Credits: Bronwyn Holloway-Smith and Vik Olliver