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Overview
This masi (Fijian tapa) was produced by Liviana Qaranivalu (Vatulele, Fiji) as a part of the 'Ahu: Ngā wairua o Hina project.
Honouring the past
A documentation of Fiji's rich tapa heritage, this masi titled Kumi embodies the evolution of Vatulele islands tapa adornment. While stencils and templates dominate today’s modern practices, the past held a different story. Masi was once painted using primarily freehand artistry, with brushes made from pandanus seed, or even slivers of tapa bark. Liviana compares this freehand technique to the journey of childhood learning. Just as child refines their penmanship in school, starting with letters and numbers, the freehand artist once honed their skill with each stroke, developing a steadier hand and the ability to render finer details.
"As for my past, our past generation in history. They did hand painting. They used a piece of tapa on a small stick, the size of a matchstick. They would wrap the tapa around, dip in the dye and do their drawing. It’s called a kumi. They used to do this before stencils."
Liviana Qaranivalu, 2023
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.