Tohi Kumi Koloa – Ko e tohi fepōtalanoa‘aki ‘eni pea mo ‘eku fanga kui

Abstract

Tohi Kumi Koloa – Ko e tohi fepōtalanoa‘aki ‘eni pea mo ‘eku fanga kui

This creative-led research project delves into the Tongan practices of ngatu (barkcloth) and kupesi (embroidered relief stencil) as a lived document of my ancestors. The work is grounded in the Tongan way of thinking, making, and doing, while adapting to the present day; a practice that exists within and across the past, Tonga, and the present, Aotearoa New Zealand, as seen in the movement between people, land, and materials.

Central to this research is a personal collection of kupesi inherited from my nena (grandmother), ‘Ana Va‘inga Nai, created by her and the hou‘eiki fafine (elder women) from their kautaha (association). As such, I ask: As a maker, how can I tauhi (take care of) all the tukufakaholo (knowledge, archival documents, bloodlines, tools and stories) my nena left with me?

This art practice is considered ‘lived research’, in which the methodology is a way of life, and the methods are how I carry myself when working across two different contexts, home in Tonga and in Aotearoa. The practice draws upon the methodological framework of Tui Kupesi, which comprises four distinct components. These are tokonaki pe tānaki (providing or collecting together), veteki (taking apart), tuiaki mo e ngāue fakataha (stitching back and collective making), and koloa (the gift/knowledge). The core methods of veteki (taking apart/unpacking) and liuaki (to go back and forth) foreground an analytical exploration of a collection of personal kupesi. Through existing documentation, the mark-making speaks to intergenerational knowledge, tukufakaholo, tupu‘anga (place of origin), mape (mapping), fonua (land), ngāue fakataha (working together), and the kāpasa (compass) as a tool for navigating practice.

This project unfolds the multiple voices of the hou‘eiki fafine through liuaki, by observing, listening, and participating in their collective labour – through koka‘anga (production of ngatu making), fepōtalanoa‘aki (in conversation), and ngāue faka‘aho (everyday life). Utilising traditional processes of ngatu and kupesi through printmaking, installation, sculpture, and scale, the project asks how traditional kupesi can be reinterpreted through a contemporary lens while honouring ancestral knowledge.