Ngatu (Tongan tapa) titled 'Plantation'

This ngatu (Tongan tapa) was made by Sulieti Fieme’a Burrows (Tonga – Falevai, Vava'u) as a part of the 'Ahu: Ngā wairua o Hina project.

Seeds of the Past

In this artwork titled Plantation, Sulieti replicates the rows of the plantation garden and honours the past through cultural practice. The planting of crops in plantation farms was once central to life in the Pacific islands and remains important to many communities today. The black circles throughout this work represent the protection of ancestors, guarding the crops from theft and destruction.

The format of Plantation mirrors the large modern-day ngatu made and traded today, with numbers representing measurements along the side. Through this, Sulieti honours the intergenerational knowledge of Tongan ngatu making.

"The plantation is where people plant their yams and this happens once a year every year. This piece represents the past because it symbolises planting the seeds of our future."

Sulieti Fieme'a Burrows, 2024

Background

In 2021, with the Te Papa Foundation’s support, Te Papa acquired a rare book of tapa cloth samples, one of many assembled by Alexander Shaw in 1787. The samples were cut from larger pieces of tapa collected on Captain Cook’s voyages to the Pacific (1768, 1772, 1776) and represent tapa-making practices from various islands including Hawai‘i, Tahiti and Tonga. While the books contain only fragments of much larger creations, they highlight the variety of textures and artistry attained through the practices, knowledge, and skills of Pacific peoples.

Held in Tahiti in 2023, 'Ahu: Ngā Wairua o Hina brought tapa makers of Tongan, Sāmoan, Niuean, Fijian, Hawaiian, Tahitian, Pitcairn-Norfolk Island, and Māori descent. Over five days this group worked together to re-establish their living relationships to the cloth held within the Alexander Shaw book. Through a process of wānanga this group of makers created two tapa bundles, incorporating the ideas of past, present, and future. Today, one of the bundles resides with Te Papa and the other with Te Fare Iamanaha-Musée de Tahiti et des Îles.