Welcome
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help strengthen student learning leading up to and during your
gallery visit.
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Learning Experiences Outside the Classrom
Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts
Phone: (09) 577 0138 ext 7703
jeremy@tetuhi.org.nz
Jeremy Leatinu’u
Education Coordinator
Stories
from the
Pacific
Te Tuhi Pre visit
lesson 2
Welcome to Stories
from the Pacific
During this lesson we will learn about…
But before
we start,
let’s recap on what
Inspired
by tapa
we learnt during our last lesson…
is an important part of
Pacific culture, tradition and
heritage. Tapa is used as
clothing, costume, masks,
bed coverings, to decorate
walls, floors and ceilings, to
help celebrate birthdays
and weddings and to
honour guests.
During our last lesson we learnt that
Polynesian tapa…
is made from the bark of the
paper mulberry tree. The
bark is beaten until soft, left
to dry, then later decorated
using a rubbing tablet and
dye.
design differs between
Pacific cultures. They are
sometimes different in how
the tapa is made, what
symbols or colours are
used and how they are
arranged on the tapa cloth.
Let’s start this lesson by exploring ‘Inspired by tapa’.
Image:http://www.tautai.org/sopolemalama-filipe-tohi/
During
lesson
we saw
examples
of
During our
thislast
lesson
we will
see many
how tapa
inspires
Polynesian
famous Pacific
artiststapa.
and their art.
Image: Neich, Roger and Pendergrast, Mick. Pacific Tapa. Auckland NZ: David Bateman Ltd, 1997.
Fatu Feu’u
Fatu Feu’u is a Samoan artist who
is regarded as one of the first
contemporary Pacific artists in New
Zealand.
Like siapo Fatu often uses a grid to
map out his paintings as well as
familiar symbols found in siapo and
tatau (Samaon tattoo) . He also uses
earthy colours as seen in siapo, such
as yellow and orange ochres and
brown and black.
For Fatu his painted flowers, fish,
human figures, masks and other
symbols and patterns reflect his
culture, his journey from Samoa to NZ,
his ancestors and his religion.
Image:
Neich, Roger and Pendergrast, Mick. Pacific Tapa. Auckland NZ: David Bateman Ltd, 1997.
http://www.internationalartcentre.co.nz/auctions/auctionEnlarge.lsd?a=201009&p=28
http://artsonline2.tki.org.nz/resources/units/music_units/symbol_2_sound/images.php
http://cpitlibrary.wordpress.com/2010/06/09/last-chance-to-see-samoan-artworks/
http://nzprintmakers.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/fatu-feuu-14-23march-christchurch.html
http://www.clker.com/clipart-samoa-tatau-1.html
http://www.art-newzealand.com/Issue111/fatu.htm
The way Siapo and tatau help tell
stories has helped Fatu tell his own
stories about his life experiences and
the things that are important to him.
John Pule
John Pule is a Nuiean painter, writer
and poet. He is very well known in
New Zealand and around the world
for his hiapo inspired paintings.
Like hiapo John also uses grids and
circular arrangements. The colours
he paints with also reflect colours
used in hiapo or other Pacific tapa
In our last lesson we learnt that a lot
of tapa artists draw symbols that
reflect the land and sea – plants,
leaves, birds and insects
For John the symbols he paints
reflect his memories of moving from
Nuie to New Zealand as a boy.
When we look at his paintings each
symbol, each box is perhaps a
scene in the story of his life.
Image:
Neich, Roger and Pendergrast, Mick. Pacific Tapa. Auckland NZ: David Bateman Ltd, 1997.
http://schools.natlib.govt.nz/culture-identity-heritage/primary-sources/gallery/kermadecs/tomorrow-we-leave-john-pule-2011
http://byronic.tumblr.com/post/19812051133/take-these-walls-with-you-when-you-leave-by-john
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2407844.The_Shark_that_Ate_the_Sun
http://nga.gov.au/islands/details/9869.cfm
https://www.thearts.co.nz/artist_page.php?aid=47
Ani O’Neill
Ani O’Neill was born in NZ and is of
Cook Island heritage. Ani’s Cook
lsland heritage plays a huge role in
her artworks, which often
incorporate Polynesian weaving and
tivaevae (quilt making).
Like tapa, tivaevae also includes
pattern, imagery, symmetry and
arrangement. Such elements can be
seen in Ani’s artworks which include
sharing the skill of stitching with
others, a skill Ani was taught by her
grandmother and family friends.
Artworks like ‘Star By Night’ pays
tribute to the ancestors of the Pacific
and their skills in using the stars in
the sky to navigate their way to NZ.
Siapo vala
Image:
Neich, Roger and Pendergrast, Mick. Pacific Tapa. Auckland NZ: David Bateman Ltd, 1997.
http://www.pasifikastyles.org.uk/artists/ani-oneill.php
http://johncharlesdavies.wordpress.com/2012/05/11/rarotonga-tivaevae-2/
http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/imagepopup.aspx?width=640&height=640&irn=28555&mode=zoom&title=Star+by+night&ack=
http://www2.rgu.ac.uk/challengingcraft/ChallengingCraft/papers/deborahcrowe/dcrowebig/dcrowebig18.htm
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=382515188470843&set=a.369153556473673.96082.338075259581503&type=3&theater
Although Ani’s artworks are
influenced more by weaving and
tivaevae we can see some
connection to Polynesian tapa.
Graham
Fletcher
Graham Fletcher was born in NZ and is
of Samoan heritage. Graham’s paintings
are influenced by his Samoan heritage
and historic events that have taken
place in the Pacific.
Between 1997-2000 Graham created
paintings that were not only inspired by
tapa but also used actual tapa cloth.
Graham wanted to change the look of
tapa into something you would find in a
science lab by painting the tapa black
and white. Paintings like this reflect a
period of time when many Pacific
people fell seriously ill from foreign
arrivals.
Flowers are common symbols we see
in Polynesian tapa. For Graham and
his paintings, flowers such as
frangipani are not only part of tapa
design, but have also become a
representation of the Pacific.
Image:
Neich, Roger and Pendergrast, Mick. Pacific Tapa. Auckland NZ: David Bateman Ltd, 1997.
http://www.grahamfletcher.co.nz/
http://www.artrecord.com/index.cfm/artist/4643-fletcher-graham/medium/1-paintings/
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=371687286220300&set=a.369153556473673.96082.338075259581503&type=3&theater
Dagmar Dyck
Dagmar Dyck is a painter and printmaker
of Tongan and German heritage. Identity
and heritage as a Tongan German New
Zealander inspires a lot of Dagmar’s art.
Dagmar’s paintings and prints use dark
lines which frame each of her images, in
the same way Ngatu (Tongan tapa) does
with its symbols and pattern.
The framing and selection of colours are
very similar to the paintings of German
painter Piet Mondrian. With Piet Mondrain
and the making of Ngatu, Dagmar makes
connections with artists from both her
Tongan and German heritage.
Painting by Piet Mondrian
Image:
Neich, Roger and Pendergrast, Mick. Pacific Tapa. Auckland NZ: David Bateman Ltd, 1997.
http://www.artassociates.co.nz/artists/dagmar-dyck.aspx
http://www.aasd.com.au/subscribers/number_by_medium.cfm?concat=DyckDagma&class=3&year=2007
http://www.flagstaff.co.nz/news_views_detail.php?id=60
http://www.anthroposophie.net/bibliothek/kunst/malerei/mondrian/bib_mondrian.htm
Through her art Dagmar not only
represents cultural objects that were once
drawn by foreign travelers, but also makes
connections to notions of community,
history and ancestry.
Ahota’ei’loa
Toetu’u
Ahota’ei’loa Toetu’u is a painter of Tongan
heritage and finds many inspirations for his
art from his Tongan culture and upbringing.
Ahota’ei’loa’s paintings on canvas explore
the theories and stories behind the Tongan
visual language of ngatu (Tongan tapa).
This can be seen instantly by the shapes,
patterns and symbols Ahota’ei’loa has
created in his paintings.
His selection of bright colours in some
paintings however, are very different to the
colours used in ngatu. The use of bright
colours have been said to represent how
the Pacific culture is portrayed to the world.
In this particular
painting the use of
black influenced by
ngatu ‘uli, a black
bark cloth worn
during funerals.
Image:
Neich, Roger and Pendergrast, Mick. Pacific Tapa. Auckland NZ: David Bateman Ltd, 1997.
http://urban-kupesi-tattoos.blogspot.co.nz/2011/02/artist-loa-toetuu-solo-exhibition.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/colourmefiji/324660619/
For Ahota’ei’loa it was about creating his
own kupesi (Tongan rubbing tablet),
geometric grid, the Christian cross and
other personal symbols and connections to
ngatu, to tell his story of life experiences
and influences from a Tongan perspective.
As we have seen, Polynesian tapa inspires many
Let’s recap on what we have learnt so far…
artists in different ways to tell their story…
What have we learnt so far?
Polynesian tapa…
Inspires artists to create their own symbols and
patterns to tell their individual stories and life
experiences.
Inspires artists to create art that expresses the
importance of culture, community, history and
ancestry.
Inspires artists to create art that highlights true
stories and significant events in history that are
just as important today as when they first
happened.
In the next lesson we will explore
‘Designing our story - Symbols’.
End of lesson