Sari | Collections Online - Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

item details

NameSari

ProductionNirmala Balram; maker/artist; 2005; New Zealand

Classificationcostume

Materialssilk, shell (animal material), tapa

DimensionsOverall: 3195mm (width), 1065mm (length)

Registration NumberFE012618

Credit linePurchased 2011

Overview

This extract originally appeared in Between Dreams (Te Papa Press, 2026) on page 81.
This extract was authored by Grace Gassin.

This sari was hand-made by Nirmala [Balram] in 2006 after she moved to New Zealand with her husband, who was then the Fiji High Commissioner. She wore it proudly to that year’s Miss Universe Fiji-New Zealand beauty pageant, for which she served as one of the judges, and again a few months later when she attended the official ‘swearing-in’ ceremony of Anand Satyanand as Governor-General of New Zealand.

The garment is made of stencil-printed masi (also known as tapa cloth) and embroidered like a sari using shells and other materials from Fiji. Through the fusion of these two elements to create something new, Nirmala celebrates her unique Indo-Fijian identity.