Exhibitions and accompanying publications are empowering and powerful vessels for maintaining and preserving Indigenous knowledges and practices for the more than 17 Moana Oceania diaspora communities living in Aotearoa New Zealand. We have had the honor of walking alongside two of these communities, Niue and Kiribati. For Niue, we had Molima Molly Pihigia QSM (Molly) as the Lead (on behalf of her group Falepipi he Mafola Niuean Handcraft Group Inc.) on the journey we took to develop and produce the exhibition and publication, both titled Fenoga Tāoga Niue i Aotearoa: Niue Heritage Journey in Aotearoa (Pihigia et al. 2023). The exhibition was first held at Māngere Arts Centre Ngā Tohu o Uenuku (MAC), in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland from 1 April to 20 May 2023; and then it toured to Pātaka Art + Museum, in Porirua, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, where it opened on 18 November 2023 running until 11 February 2024. With Kiribati, we were privileged to collaborate with I-Kiribati master makers Kaetaeta Watson and Louisa Humphry MNZM to co-curate the exhibition Tibuta – Kinaakiia Ainen Kiribati: Tibuta – Identifies Kiribati Women that was held at Pātaka Art + Museum from 7 October until 11 November 2023. We also helped to set up their publishing arm Te Rabakau Press and facilitated the production process of an accompanying publication, of the same name, launched at the closing of their exhibition (Lagi-Maama 2023).
Members of Falepipi he Mafola Group in the gallery with the exhibition Fenoga Tāoga Niue i Aotearoa: Niue Heritage Journey in Aotearoa exhibition, Māngere Arts Centre Ngā Tohu o Uenuku, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand. Courtesy of Lagi-Maama.
Citation: Museum Worlds 12, 1; 10.3167/armw.2024.120112
Formal handover ceremony of the climate change warrior Otintaai (Sunrise) to be added to Te Papa's collections, 1 May 2021. Left to right: Te Papa Tumu Whakarae Chief Executive Courtney Johnston, Jack Humphry, Louisa Humphry MNZM, Isabella Moarerei Levet, Kaetaeta Watson, John Watson, and Susan Tekariti Skeggs. Courtesy Jo Moore Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa FE013648.
Citation: Museum Worlds 12, 1; 10.3167/armw.2024.120112
Fenoga Tāoga Niue i Aotearoa: Niue Heritage Journey in Aotearoa
Our journey with Falepipi he Mafola Niuean Handcraft Group Inc (Falepipi he Mafola Group) started in 2018, on their twenty-fifth anniversary, where Molly placed a challenge at our feet about wanting to publish a book to acknowledge their 30 years of work. In 2021, we officially started work on the publication, as well as an exhibition, with the aim of launching both on their thirtieth anniversary on 1 April 2023.
The exhibition Fenoga Tāoga Niue i Aotearoa: Niue Heritage Journey in Aotearoa offers unique insights into the 30-year journey of Falepipi he Mafola Group through projects and treasures made by the collective minds, hearts, and hands of past and present members. It honors over 50 loved ones that have since passed on, and the wealth of knowledges, skills, and wisdom of their current living tāoga (treasures). The works featured in the exhibition included a mammoth collection of more than 350 individual pieces that were either made individually or collectively by 45 past and present members of Falepipi he Mafola Group. Three master makers were highlighted: Maliamoka Nofo Tosene-Ikitule, Olive Fetogi Makahili, and Foufili Halagigie. Sadly, Maliamoka passed away three days after the exhibition at MAC opened, on 4 April 2023, at age 91. We also recently farewelled Olive earlier this year at 93 years of age. We gratefully acknowledge their knowledge, skills, and contribution. Furthermore, the entire exhibition was bilingual, privileging Vagahau Niue (Niue language) followed by English translations, from the 300 labels to marketing and postcards.
Falepipi he Mafola Group have been preserving and maintaining Niuean culture, heritage, and fine arts here in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, around Aotearoa New Zealand, and even back in their homeland of Niue. Through their exhibition and publication of the same name, they have laid a strong foundation to nurture and inspire the young minds and hearts of their Niuean future generations.
Tibuta – Kinaakiia Ainen Kiribati: Tibuta – Identifies Kiribati Women
Our journey with our Kiribati community started in 2019, sitting in Thames, during one of our many te maroro / talanoa / conversations with Kaetaeta Watson and Louisa Humphry MNZM. They both expressed their great interest in building resources for their Kiribati communities and younger generations around their tibuta, especially its significance as their national tops worn by women as markers of their identity and pride as I-Kiribati living in the diaspora.
With support from Creative New Zealand, Kaetaeta and Louisa carried out research in 2021–2022 that revealed a scarcity of resources on their tibuta by I-Kiribati for I-Kiribati. They were also tasked with thinking through how to involve wider Kiribati communities throughout Aotearoa. This part of the process revolved naturally, where the involvement of Porirua-based Maubonia Women's Club, operating under the umbrella organization Maneaban te I-Tungaru Association Incorporated, was based on an existing relationship where they had sought the making knowledge and expertise of Kaetaeta and Louisa to run workshops in Porirua. With Maubonia Women's Club being based in Porirua it felt right for us to approach a local space, Pātaka Art + Museum, to scope the availability of any exhibition spaces for our proposed exhibition (a blessing as Lagi-Maama have known and worked with their two curators in the past).
Fast forward to the end of May 2023, where the generous support from the Cultural Regeneration Fund of Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage enabled us to pick up the tibuta project and make the vision for an exhibition and a publication a reality. Kaetaeta and Louisa brought on board the cultural knowledge, expertise, and guidance of Mwemwetaake and Rareti Ataniberu (based in Te Puke). In addition to the Porirua group, they also confirmed the involvement of their wider Waikato-based Ueen Kiribati Group, and the interest and participation of Papakura-Tāmaki Makaurau-based tibuta maker Tiemeri (Sermary) Tiare. We also included contributions from the homeland of Kiribati with maker Tereaua Temoku and Madame Teiraeng Maamau.
The exhibition features 75 tibuta and mauri wear dresses; a wedding dress with tibuta-inspired smocking; Otintaai our climate change warrior with her flax inspired tibuta; the process of the making of a tibuta at Pātaka; and a mauri wear dress, which was sent especially by the First Lady of Kiribati to be included in the exhibition. Each piece is accompanied by the names of those that made it, wore it, gifted it, and who now treasure it. Each tibuta on display carries the legacy of grandmothers, mothers, daughters, and granddaughters. They come with narratives around making practices, distinctive styles, gifting, and wearing of tibuta for life-affirming moments such as family reunions, village gatherings, and engagements. All the stories shared in this exhibition have been lovingly authored by I-Kiribati for I-Kiribati.
These exhibitions (and their accompanying publications) are vital in preserving and retaining the Indigenous knowledges and practices of Niue and Kiribati heritage and culture. Today Mother Nature is speaking back to us about the global realities of how we have physically impacted our natural environment. Molly and members of her Falepipi he Mafola Group, Kaetaeta and Louisa and their fellow I-Kiribati collaborators, all are at the forefront of the fight against the climate crisis we are facing today by preserving their Indigenous Niue and Kiribati knowledges and practices. They are countering climate change by actively ensuring they are passing on Niuean knowledge and practice, and Kiribati knowledge and practice, in tangible vessels and mediums, like temporary exhibitions and most importantly in books that will be invaluable resources for the current communities and especially the younger generations. This foresight is the invaluable legacy that these women climate change warriors are building for our future generations, best expressed by Kaetaeta and Louisa in the meaning behind their work Otintaai, featured in the exhibition:
Otintaai, meaning sunrise, is a female Kiribati warrior facing hard times now with climate change, the sea around her rising, overfishing of her waters, entangled netting and plastics rubbishing her waters and her islands. But she looks at the rising of the sun each day with hope and is standing firmly with the fight in her to create a better world for our children's future. Our warrior is really speaking to our future generations as the guardians of this beautiful world we have. She's not just a warrior for Kiribati but a warrior for the world. (Lagi-Maama 2023: 6)
Toluma‘anave Barbara Makuati-Afitu, Kolokesa Uafā Mahina-Tuai, Hikule‘o Fe‘aomoeako Melaia Māhina
Lagi-Maama Academy and Consultancy
References
Pihigia, Molima Molly, Toluma‘anave Barbara Makuati-Afitu, Kolokesa Uafā Māhina-Tuai, Hikule‘o Fe‘aomoeako Melaia Māhina, and Janson Chau. 2023. Fenoga Tāoga Niue i Aotearoa: Niue Heritage Journey in Aotearoa. Auckland: Mafola Press.
Lagi-Maama (Toluma‘anave Barbara Makuati-Afitu and Kolokesa Uafā Māhina-Tuai). 2023. Tibuta – Kinaakiia Ainen Kiribati: Tibuta – Identifies Kiribati Women. Auckland: Te Rabakau Press.
Fenoga Tāoga Niue i Aotearoa: Niue Heritage Journey in Aotearoa
Response from Pātaka Art + Museum
Fakaalofa lahi atu kia mutolu oti.
Here at Pātaka, we had a great summer with matua fifine ma magafaoa (women and families) of Falepipi he Mafola Niuean Handcraft Group Inc, descendants of the House of Peace and nearby villages, from the rock of Niue, and based in Ōtāhuhu, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, in an exhibition called Fenoga Tāoga Niue I Aotearoa, Niue Heritage Journey in Aotearoa. It was shown in Pātaka Art + Museum's West Gallery from 18 November 2023 to 11 February 2024, and was led by award-winning artist Molima Molly Pihigia QSM, with the support and advocacy of Lagi-Maama Academy and Consultancy.
Lagi-Maama Academy and Consultancy (LMAC) is famous in Aotearoa and the world for its audaciously unapologetic Moana Indigenous approach to exhibition curation with/by/for Pasifika communities, artists, and makers. Fearless. Revolutionary, LMAC is a collective I have long admired. In organized social and cultural movements, I have been taught that you only need three (3) for a successful rebellion against the clamor of the status quo.
The number three (3) holds immense spiritual significance. The three (3) women of LMAC are mana-ful. They show courage, strength, and resolve. They are selfless and move with the right mind and heart. They are Toluma'anave Barbara Makuati-Afitu, Kolokesa Uafā Māhina-Tuai, and the u'i (younger sister) Hikule'o Fe'aomoeako Melaia Māhina aka “Bubs” a communications genius. All three (3) use social media and other digital technologies to ensure Moana communities are informed and engaged at every step of the way, elevating Indigenous art forms on a par with what the GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums) sector might call contemporary or high-end art.
How do you compare raffia-polypropylene coiled wall hangings, recycled bread-bag bowls, placemats, or a PAK'nSAVE plastic laundry basket with an oil painting or an ancient artifact? Can something made of plastic even be considered tāoga (treasure)? After a quick online search, I discovered the Tāoga Niue Act 2012. And yes, at the end of a long list of traditional materials, the words “imported resources” of “all varieties” emerge.
The approach that LMAC and Molly took in presenting the exhibition Fenoga Tāoga Niue i Aotearoa: Niue Heritage Journey in Aotearoa challenges us to reconsider what tāoga means through material, ideation, conceptual, vernacular, and storied interrogations. The lili lāfia tautau kaupā (raffia wall hangings [lili]), were some of my favorite tāoga in the exhibition. Lili are the round woven placemats, made up of circles emanating from the “eye” or center through the process of tia (weaving).
The lili are significant for Niue women's artistry and are treasured. The making of lili is fostered and handed down by tau tupuna from generation to generation, right through to the present day. I loved their concentricity. A metaphor for the way our languages and cultures are understood. History is never linear. The spirals allow us to think through kin, connectedness, past, present, and future dimensions all in the present, open-ended moment.
Entrance and installation view of the exhibition Fenoga Tāoga Niue i Aotearoa: Niue Heritage Journey in Aotearoa with the three master weavers on the right wall (Foufili Halagigie, the late Maliamoka Nofo Tosene-Ikitule, and the late Olive Fetogi Makahili), Pātaka Art + Museum, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. Courtesy of Lagi-Maama.
Citation: Museum Worlds 12, 1; 10.3167/armw.2024.120112
I then found the writing of Nogiata Ediff Tukimata (2017), advocate and author of The Lili Model, an Indigenous Niue framework visually presented by the lili. Anchoring the lili as a tāoga further through a Niue worldview. In the exhibition, with Vagahau Niue (Niue language) at the center, grounded in spirituality and the church, the lili as a cultural artifact served as a tool to integrate the voices of the weavers themselves. Everything was translated into Vagahau Niue, every text, label, and where possible with the public program, when Matua Molly was around.
The exhibition was a return “home” for Matua Molly who lived in Porirua for over 30 years, and at the closing event, Matua Molly and the LMAC crew launched a five-hundred-page publication. Of biblical proportions, this catalog of the artworks and the makers memorializes this epic history, birthed in Otāhūhū, Tamaki Makaurau, which Poriruaians had the opportunity to see over the summer season, and learned of Mama Molly's tenacity. Commitment. To meet every Thursday without fail for 30 years! Truly inspirational, for niue generations, including those from our communities.
Alongside Fenoga Tāoga Niue i Aotearoa: Niue Heritage Journey in Aotearoa exhibition, was Foaki Noa: The Art of Ie Pili Niue (18 November 2023–21 January 2024), an exhibition in Bottle Creek, our community gallery by local Niue ie pili textile artists. Curated by emerging heritage artist Joy Fiapalagi Sipeli-Antipas with 30 women, and our very own Aunty Lorna Kanavatoa whose oral history project inhabited the space through storytelling, supplemented with tāoga from the Niutupu Pulapulaola Group, saw over 200 people attend the combined openings on Saturday, 18 November 2023.
And while the exhibitions have closed, as I write this short report, Pātaka's relationship with local Niue communities continues into 2024. The Niutupu Pulapulaola Group, made up of the Pahetogia, Lapana, Lupo (-Samoa), and Jackson magafaoa families meet every fortnight in Pātaka's Education Suite, for ongoing creative practices related to printmaking and weaving, seeped in Vagahau Niue, until Niue Language Week in October. Recognizing that 2024 is an important year, marking 50 years of self-government in free association with Aotearoa New Zealand, we are committed to nurturing and embracing Vagahau Niue more than ever.
Members of Falepipi he Mafola Group and their families in the exhibition Fenoga Tāoga Niue i Aotearoa: Niue Heritage Journey in Aotearoa, Pātaka Art + Museum, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. Courtesy of Lagi-Maama.
Citation: Museum Worlds 12, 1; 10.3167/armw.2024.120112
Tia e lili ke mau!
Oue tulou ma tau mamatua mai he motu, fakaaue lahi, kia monuia.
Jacki Leota-Mua
Pātaka Art + Museum
References
Department of Tāoga Niue. 2012. Tāoga Act of Niue. Niue Assembly 16 July 2012. https://www.gov.nu/wb/media/Act%20320%20-%20Taoga%20Niue%20Act%202012.pdf (accessed 13 May 2024).
Pātaka Art + Museum. Homepage. https://pataka.org.nz/ (accessed 20 May 2024).
Tukimata, N. E. 2017. “‘Tia e Lili ke Mau’—Regeneration of Vagahau Niue: A Case Study of Niue Youth through the Ekalesia in Niue and in Auckland, New Zealand.” MA thesis, Auckland University of Technology: https://openrepository.aut.ac.nz/server/api/core/bitstreams/47b5a550-e504-4df5-8d80-fbf4909e1e98/content (accessed 13 May 2024).
