Pacific Island Crafts in New Zealand

In the same way that Pacific Island peoples have found a new homeland in New Zealand, so too have their customs, values, arts and crafts. In the Pacific Islands, craftspeople produce items that fulfill a particular function in, or complement, certain rituals and occasions. Others generate items for use as clothing, adornment, furnishings and tools. Today in New Zealand many of these crafts have found new roles as their use and the context in which they are produced have changed.

In New Zealand, museums, galleries, festivals and markets are the new contexts in which Pacific Island crafts are displayed, appreciated and sold. The continuation of these craft making practices is an important way for crafts people and their communities to nurture and pass on their skills and knowledge, promote their sense of cultural identity and fulfill necessary social roles and obligations.

There are a few individuals who have made Pacific Island crafts their livelihood or business, giving craft an economic role and value both for themselves and for island based craft suppliers overseas. Some have formed collectives, opened craft shops and stalls and are taking Pacific arts and crafts to the wider world.

The majority of craft making activities in New Zealand are community based and are largely initiated through or associated with local churches and cultural groups. While they share similar techniques and materials, each community has its own distinctive history, customs and design elements specific to their culture. But within this framework there is still plenty of scope for individual flair and innovation. New ideas, motifs and materials continue to characterize and give life to the arts and crafts of Pacific Islanders, as they always have.

The craft focus among the Tongan communities is on weaving and the making of tapa (barkcloth). Weaving includes the making of mats, costumes and baskets. The difficulty of obtaining the raw material for tapa (paper mulberry bark) has led to the use of vilene, a synthetic material. This cloth closely resembles natural tapa in texture and is pasted into large sheets and decorated in the customary way, but is purchased ready made, eliminating the time consuming process of actually making tapa from bark.

Samoan craft groups produce a range of mats, hats, costumes and baskets. The work of Samoan mat weavers is characterized by their innovative use of applied decoration. This is also a notable aspect of their costume and headdress design. There are only a few Samoan mens craft groups in New Zealand, who focus mainly on making a range of carved wooden items, which are used in ceremony and sport. However, items such as model canoes are sometimes made for sale as souvenirs or gifts.

The Tokelau community has several small craft groups throughout the country. The mens groups import and use local materials to make fishing equipment, adzes, fishing boxes and model canoes. Tokelau womens craft groups make a range of mats, hats, baskets and fans. They use a range of material that now includes flax fibre. The women of the Niuean community do the same. They too are experimenting with flax fibre, which is easier and cheaper to acquire than the imported dried leaves of the pandanus plant. One Wellington-based Niuean group has taken this a step further incorporating Maori weaving techniques into their work.

The strongest crafts of the Cook Island community are those of tivaevae (patchwork and applique quilts) and weaving. There are many groups that meet throughout the country and they regularly exhibit their work in museums and galleries. Many of the same crafts people also make dance costumes, mats and hats. These feature in fashion shows, cultural groups and sometimes exhibitions.

As well as the community based groups there are a number of individual crafts people and artists who work in a wide range of media. Jewellers such as Niki Hastings Mc Fall, Ela To'omaga and Pacific Sisters produce work founded upon Pacific values and aesthetics, but with a unique and contemporary New Zealand expression. There are also fine sculptors such as Fatu Feu'u, Filipe Tohi, Iosefa Leo and Johnny Penisula. The works of these people blur the lines of art and craft, for while their work can always be appreciated for its expression, line and form, in certain contexts it speaks of wider issues for pacific islanders in New Zealand, issues of heritage, history, empowerment, and memory.

While the arts and crafts of the Pacific continue to play a key social and economic role in Pacific Island communities, the production of crafts in New Zealand has also become a means of preserving knowledge and asserting identity. The arts and crafts in New Zealand have emerged as a way for Pacific Island communities to maintain social and spiritual ties to each other, their island homelands and aspects of their cultural heritage.

Sean Mallon
December 1998