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A striking acquisition

21 October 2010 – 7.41am

"Look Within 2" painting; Te Papa; Purchased 2010

This striking work Look Within 2 (2007) by Papua New Guinea artist Daniel Waswas is the latest addition to Te Papa’s collection of contemporary Pacific artworks. It depicts four images of the same person, conveying a message of self reflection and addressing the idea of identity from within one’s own background. In 2009, the painting was selected by the Kaohsiung Museum in Taiwan for its show Art in the Contemporary Pacific -– The Great Journey: Iin Pursuit of the Ancestral Realm.

A Master of Fine Arts graduate from the University of Auckland, Waswas has been involved with art-making, cultural events organisation, and arts education since the early 1990s. He has lectured in art and design at the University of Papua New Guinea and, in 2005, established the Gallery PNG  in Port Moresby to promote local indigenous art. He was a research scholar at the University of Canterbury’s Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies in 2007.

Waswas’ painting joins Te Papa’s small collection of works by esteemed artists from Papua New Guinea, including Jakupa Ako, Gikmai Kundun, David Lasisi, John Man(n), Morububuna Martin, Mathias Kauage , and Cecil King Wungi.

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Recent acquisition: Tongan fangufangu (nose flute)

10 August 2010 – 2.59pm

In March 2009, Te Papa was gifted a small but significant collection of objects from Derek J. Wilson. This collection included two Tongan fangufangu or nose flutes that were made from bamboo.

Fangufangu (nose flute); Te Papa: Gift of Derek J. Wilson, 2009

Fangufangu (nose flute); Te Papa; Gift of Derek J. Wilson, 2009

Historically, fangufangu were used to awaken the Tongan royalty from their sleep. The newly acquired fangufangu, have intact nodes at each end, forming a sealed cylinder. Around one of the fangufangu are burnt and incised images of birds, ships, human figures and the words “Vavau” and “Tuanuku”. Tuanuku is a coastal village located in the Vavau group of islands. This fangufangu, possibly records the coming and going of European ships in the harbour area in the 19th century. These are a welcome addition to the collection, as examples documenting a slice of Tongan history.

Click on the link to view the playing of fangufangu during Queen Elizabeth II’s royal visit to the Kingdom of Tonga:

Watch Video

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Tatau: Samoan Tattoo, New Zealand Art, Global Culture – a new publication

18 June 2010 – 1.34pm

Check out the new publication from Te Papa Press:

Tatau: Samoan Tattoo, New Zealand Art, Global Culture

Photographs by Mark Adams, with essays by Sean Mallon, Peter Brunt and Nicholas Thomas

One hundred memorable images by documentary photographer Mark Adams present a powerful and moving portraits of a great Polynesian art tradition.

Tatau also tells the story of Sulu’ape Paulo II, the pre-eminent figure of modern Samoan tattooing. Paulo was a brilliantly innovative and controversial man, who saw tatau as an art of international importance. He was killed in 1999.

Accompanying Adams’ arresting photographs are two essays, and two interviews in which Sulu’ape Paulo II and Mark Adams each articulate their understanding of their own practices.

’Paul’s nephew Jim at Paul’s house’; Te Papa; Purchased 1993 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds

’Paul’s nephew Jim at Paul’s house’; Te Papa; Purchased 1993 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds

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Queen’s service medal for font designer Joseph Churchward

8 June 2010 – 3.37pm
Churchward Newstype Boldest Sketch

Churchward Newstype Boldest Sketch; Te Papa; Purchased 2008

The 2010 Queen’s Birthday Honours list included Samoan-born font designer Joseph Churchward. Since the 1960s, Churchward has hand-created over 570 typefaces (fonts), the greatest number designed by any individual in the world.

Click on the image to watch the video interview with Churchward on TVNZ:

Joseph Churchward sketching at his desk

As a way of documenting Churchward’s work, in August 2008, Te Papa acquired about 1000 examples of Churchward’s font designs. Now, the Pacific Cultures collection houses 42 samples of Churchward’s typefaces.

View more of Churchward’s amazing typefaces on Te Papa’s Collections Online:
http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/Search.aspx?term=joseph+churchward

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Maka or throwing stones: effective Niuean weapons

7 May 2010 – 4.26pm

For the last few months, the Pacific team have been auditing the Niue collection, where objects are photographed, and the catalogue record updated. Niue also known as Nuku-tu-taha is located between Tonga and the Cook Islands. We had an enquiry from a scholar who was researching throwing techniques, and was interested in Niuean maka or throwing stones, that were used in warfare.

This enquiry helped us to think about the function of these stones in warfare, and the patience required in smoothing out each piece. In battle, maka, usually made from stalactite, were first thrown to the enemy, followed by a close encounter using a club or a spear. The painstaking task of smoothing out each stone, illustrates the accuracy and precision required to make an effective weapon.

Maka or throwing/war stone from Niue; Te Papa; Gift of Sarah Kinsey, 1936

Why were these stones painstakingly made, if potentially they could be lost once thrown? In the collection, 12 maka were collected by New Zealand photographer Sir Joseph Kinsey, and one presented to the museum by Reverend John Inglis in 1869.

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Dance costume Cook Islands style

26 March 2010 – 3.51pm
For this week’s blog, I have selected this Cook Islands costume, for its beautiful arrangement, and striking colours.
Pareu kiri'au (hula skirt); Te Papa; Gift of Mrs E. M. Paterson, 1954

Pareu kiri'au (hula skirt); Te Papa; Gift of Mrs E. M. Paterson, 1954

This striking 1920s pareu kiri’au (hula skirt) from Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, is made from long narrow strips of hibiscus bast fibre. Around the waistband, is blue cloth, with orange and yellow diamonds, which have been machine sewn onto the band. At the base of the waistband, hang red-dyed tassels, each tied with a single puka seed. The base of the pareu has been dipped in red dye, providing a contrast to the natural colour of the pareu. This example combines natural and imported products, with a preference for blue cloth, and red dye. The tassels around the hips, add another layer of movement, once the dancer is in full motion. 

Dance costumes are often made to capture the graceful and vigorous movements of the dancer. At times costume makers combine natural materials with imported and manufactured goods. As curators, we look for colour and style to indicate a specific time period, while providing a clue about the wearer, and the maker.

This pareu, collected in the early 1920s, was gifted, along with other items, to the museum by Edith Paterson in 1954. Edith and her husband John worked and travelled intermittently in the Cook Islands during the 1920s, when John helped to build the Avarua wharf in Rarotonga.

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Childhood ailment remembered through Tahitian necklaces

19 February 2010 – 4.02pm

Objects associated with interesting stories, often find their way to the museum, here is a recent example. In May 2009, 13 Tahitian shell hei (necklaces) were gifted to Te Papa’s Pacific Cultures collection by Anton Coppens. These are rare and important examples of hei made in Tahiti during the mid-twentieth century. Necklaces are an essential part of many Pacific cultures; they are often worn as part of dance costumes, given as gifts, or adorned for special occasions. 

 
 
 
 

Hei (shell necklace); Te Papa; Gift of Anton Coppens, 2009

These hei were gifted to Mary Coppens and her son Anton, who had an unplanned stay in Tahiti en route to Europe in early 1966. Nine-year-old Anton underwent an operation for peritonitis at the Clinique Cardella in Papeete. An English-speaking Tahitian who was in the original film Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) – along with her friends and the nursing staff at the Clinique – presented the shell hei to Mary and Anton when, after a fortnight’s stay, they departed for New Zealand. 

Hei (shell necklace); Te Papa; Gift of Anton Coppens, 2009

The hei are exquisitely arranged, and made from various types of shells. With help from Bruce Marshall (Collection Manager Mollusca), some of the shells were idenitified as Pacific strawberry cockle shells (Fragum fragum), yellow melampus shells (Melampus luteus), cyclomorpha flava shells, and a variety of periwinkle shells (Littorina species).  

This new acquisition, to be displayed as part of a refreshment in the Tangata o le Moana exhibition, provides a memorable story of Tahitian kindness and hospitality.

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Font designer: Joseph Churchward

29 January 2010 – 1.15pm

In 2008, I co-curated a small show in our Illot Gallery about Samoan-born graphic designer Joseph Churchward, who has hand-crafted about 570 fonts to date. Last year, Joseph received the John Britten Award, from the Designers Institute of New Zealand, for outstanding leadership, vision and achievement in the field of type design. Here are four of my favourite Churchward font designs: 

  • Churchward Design
Churchward Design Print Negative; by Joseph Churchward; Te Papa Tongarewa; Purchased 2008

Churchward Design Print Negative; by Joseph Churchward; Te Papa Tongarewa; Purchased 2008

  • Churchward Marianna
Churchward Marianna Black Print Negative; by Joseph Churchward; Te Papa Tongarewa; Purchased 2008

Churchward Marianna Black Print Negative; by Joseph Churchward; Te Papa Tongarewa; Purchased 2008

  • Churchward Maori
Churchward Maori 1983 Hand Drawn Board; by Joseph Churchward; Te Papa Tongarewa; Purchased 2008

Churchward Maori 1983 Hand Drawn Board; by Joseph Churchward; Te Papa Tongarewa; Purchased 2008

  • Churchward Alefapeta (Alphabet) Samoa
Churchward Alefapeta Samoa Poster; by Joseph Churchward; Te Papa Tongarewa; Purchased 2008

Churchward Alefapeta Samoa Poster; by Joseph Churchward; Te Papa Tongarewa; Purchased 2008

Posted in Art, Collections Online, Exhibitions, History, Pacific | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (2)
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