"O a'u o le gata" siapo mamanu (tapa cloth)

This siapo (Sāmoan tapa) titled O a’u o le gata was produced by Doron Semu (Sāmoa – Falelatai, Salelesi, Asau, Falelima; New Zealand European) as a part of the 'Ahu: Ngā wairua o Hina project.

Making for the future

In this artwork, artist and maker Doron Semu contemplates queer pacific identity alongside wider Sāmoan narratives, and the future of siapo. When presenting this piece for the 'Ahu: Ngā wairua o Hina’ project, he recounted the following story:

“In Sāmoa we have a land snake, the pacific boa. And this snake, the gata, it’s endangered... and the reason its endangered is because we’ve associated snakes with sin. It’s being murdered by lots of people, whenever they see a snake, they will cut its head off. But, this snake isn’t a snake that fights back. Originally within Sāmoa, the snake is a symbol of humility."

Doron highlights how people's perception of the Pacific boa has changed over time. Influences from outside the Pacific, as well as changing cultural attitudes, have shifted the narrative changing the snake's symbolism within Sāmoan culture and the diaspora.

"There’s a legend that [...] there was poverty within the coast and this family wanted food and wealth. So they sent their daughters up into the mountains to be able to meet this family of snakes and shapeshifters. These daughters presented themselves to this eligible bachelor, but he presented himself as a snake. These women weren’t able to humble themselves to be able to accept him in his snake form. He said, ‘if you can’t accept me as a snake, you can’t accept me as a human’. When one sister was able to have the humility to accept him as a snake he transformed into a human and was super handsome (as all Sāmoan’s are) and they fell in love and had a family. Unfortunately, her sisters who could not show humility became jealous of her, as she was the one who brought wealth into the family. As she lay on her siapo anvil, her tutua, and slept, her sisters came in the night and smashed her head up and murdered her. It all comes back to this conversation about humility and the snake.”

The artist also draws a parallel between this story and the modern-day words of fa'afafine academic Dr Fuimaono Karl Pulotu-Endemann. While in a debate Dr. Pulotu-Endemann rebutted a claim that the queer community shouldn’t exist based on their absence within the Christian creation story (Ie, "It was Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve") with a witty retort: "But I was there – I was the snake.", thus continuing the connections between queer Samoan culture, and the symbol and mythology of the snake within the Pacific

The artwork itself  is a reflection on Doron's experiences over the past four years leading workshops with the MVPFAFF+ (Mahu, Vakasalewalewa, Palopa, Fa’afafine, Akava’ine, Fakaleiti or Leiti, Fakafifine) and Takatāpui and Rainbow Pacifica community. It explores the impact creating tapa cloth has had within these spaces, Through his work, Doron highlights the importance of cultural knowledge transmission and artistic practice, but most importantly emphasised the need for people within these communities  to be both safe and seen;

“When I think about this in the context of our rainbow community, the MVPFAFF+  and Rainbow Pacifica community, and I think about the snake... I see that we are the shape shifters. We are the ones navigating our way through social systems and political situations. So on this piece I really want to incorporate; “but I was there, I was the snake. O a’u e le gata. I am the snake.”

While creating this piece, Doron painted patterns taken from the vines of kūmara (sweet potato) growing along his garden path. The design also features patterns based on motifs found on historical siapo created using 'upeti fala (tapa pattern boards). Doron has interpreted these particular motifs as representing edible root crops, placing this garden scene within a larger question, asks people to contemplate: "where is the gata?"

O a’u o le gata was originally part of a larger work that was purposefully cut into three pieces at the behest of the artist by Dr Sean Mallon and Dr Marine Vallée. This purposeful cutting honours the various real-life reasons tapa is cut, and the samples now residing in the Alexander Shaw sampler book. The three pieces of O a’u o le gata now reside with the artist Doron Semu,in the collections of Te Papa Tongarewa, and Te Fare Iamanaha-Musée de Tahiti et des Îles.

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.