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Overview
This wall hanging was donated to Te Papa Tongarewa, Museum of New Zealand by To'aila Tali.
Project 83: Small things matter
Toa'ila participated in the 2017 co-collecting initiative Pikipiki hama kae vaevae manava: joining our vaka to share our breath or life stories. The project worked with members of the Tongan community in Tamaki Auckland. To'aila participated as part of a Year 13 Tongan language class from Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate in Otara. We held a two-day training workshop with the class that aimed to demonstrate how collections and the museum can be meaningful spaces where their lives and experiences are valued, including contemporary teenage life.
As part of the sessions we encouraged the students to come up with a project name for this youth-focussed collecting that they would be undertaking - Project 83: Small things matter.
This was an opportunity to represent themselves and counter the stereotypical representations of their home town of Otara. The number '83' represents their school 'Hilary Collegiate' taken from the position of the letters 'H' and 'C' in the alphabet. The name reflects the experiences and values they share as 'Proud Otarians'. The second half of the title is 'small things matter' inspired by the story of a small shell in our collections. This tag line represents their collective agreement as a class to commit to this opportunity, and share what matters to them, regardless of how insignificant they may appear to others.