The long and intriguing story of the origine of the indigenous Maori people can be traced back to the 13th century, the mythical homeland Hawaiki, Eastern Polynesia. Due to centuries of isolation, the Maori established a distinct society with characteristic art, a separate language and unique mythology. Defining aspects of Maori traditional culture include art, dance, legends, tattoos and community. While the arrival of European colonists in the 18th centure had a profound impact on the Maori way of life, many aspects of traditional society have survived into the 21th century.

Vogue Italia is hosting a series of shows in Milan exploring how the magazine seeks to engage with hot social and political issues and provoke debate through images by top photographers. The Photo Vogue festival in Milan is hosting three exhibitions. The first, Fashion and Politics in Vogue Italia, looks at the magazine’s ambition to be a catalyst for change – in subtle and playful ways. Here: David LaChapelle – October 2004. (Photo by David LaChapelle/The Guardian)

A participant wearing a motorcycle helmet gets sprayed with firecrackers, during the “Beehive Firecrackers” festival at the Yanshui district in Tainan, Taiwan on March 1, 2018. According to Taiwan's Tourism Bureau, the “beehive” festival started in the late 1885 as a request to the gods to spare Yanshui from a cholera outbreak which was making its way through the villages. (Photo by Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

In this Saturday, March 3, 2018, photo, a contestant gets ready to throw a hatchet at a wooden bull's-eye at the Kick Axe Throwing venue in the Brooklyn borough of New York. Kick Axe Throwing is the first bar in New York City to pick up on a nationwide trend of ax throwing, a growing sport that some enthusiasts hope will take off the way bowling did in the last century. (Photo by Mary Altaffer/AP Photo)

Pilgrims lift up their dresses as they cross the Quema river during the annual El Rocio pilgrimage in Villamanrique, near Sevilla on June 1, 2017. El Rocio pilgrimage is the largest in Spain with hundreds of thousands of devotees wearing traditional outfits converging in a burst of colour as they make their way on horseback and decorated carriages across the Andalusian countryside. (Photo by Cristina Quicler/AFP Photo)

This photo series shows curvy canines and flexible felines participating in a spot of yoga. The shots feature the animals in the likes of the lotus position, balancing on two legs, and stretching in ways that would make the greatest of yoga masters proud. Photographer Dan Borris came up with the idea for the series in 2000, when he was asked by a friend to photograph her in a yoga pose while her dog bothered her. Pictured: Wally. (Photo by Dan Borris/Caters News)

Snakes wearing hats is now an internet meme and it’s kind of cute but also kind of terrifying. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think there’s anything more evil than a giant cartoon snake wearing a bowler hat – the hat just makes it even more sinister. As you can see below, some of these snakes look cool and cute, but some of them are pretty frightening. Either way the addition of a dumb hat definitely has an effect on them. I definitely won’t be getting a pet snake any time soon.