Loketi Niua Latu: The Melbourne Tapa

Fa'avavau by Frances Masina Trood

Exhibition - FREE

Craft
3 Aug - 1 Sep 2012

The Melbourne Tapa was painted by 13 women from Pacific nations.

Led by guest curator Loketi Niua Latu from Tonga, the Tapa has been painted with contemporary materials on a traditional base of beaten Mulberry tree bark. The images depict important symbols of life's journey. In Pacific culture a Tapa may be given as a present to a young married couple for instance, or, as in this case, especially painted to capture some of the stories and emotions of resettling in another place, like Melbourne.

The 13 women who created The Melbourne Tapa are: Meleane Saliba; Margaret Pulepule; Lana Lalagofa'atasi Sila-La'asia; Ali'itasi T Trood; Frances Masina Trood; Frances Tua; Nikki Fong; 'Epenisa Liku Finefēuiaki; Lata-e-Falesiu Taipaleti-Siu; Andrea Fong; Sesilia Veamatahau-Wardell; Ma'ata Palavi-Makasini; Lavinia Taipaleti-Valu.

This unique artwork is the first of its type to be made in Australia. As an artwork it both preserves and informs us of how a culture says strong and yet adapts. Each panel of the tapa tells a particular story and its group format presents a kaleidoscope of views and striking colours. Animals, plants and forms contain elements of narrative, each arresting the eye through its beauty and honesty of depiction, a characteristic of great craft.

LAUNCH 6pm, Thursday 2 August 2012

SHOWING 3 August — 1 September 2012
ARTIST TALK 12 noon, Saturday 25 August 2012 (FREE)
VENUE Craft, 31 Flinders Lane, Melbourne (map)

DOWNLOAD the artist statements (PDF)

FROM THE GUEST CURATOR

The Melbourne Tapa has been a phenomenal achievement created over ten months by 13 women from Samoa, Fiji, Tonga and Aotearoa who are spread across the north-western suburbs of Melbourne. It has been said that "bark cloth has become literally the fabric of Pacific society... [its] fabrication being women's work, but the resulting product was often sacred to men, women and the gods." Traditionally, tapa cloth has been made for bedding and clothing, often highly decorated especially for people of rank.

The Melbourne Tapa is made from the inner bark of the paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera), decorated in acrylic paint with unique designs created by Meleane Saliba, Margaret Pulepule, Ali'itasi T. Trood, Lana Lalagofa'atasi Sila-La'asia, Frances Masina Trood, Frances Tua, Nikki Fong, 'Epenisa Liku Finefeuiaki, Lata-'i-Falesiu Taipaleti Siu, Andrea Fong, Sesilia Veamatahau Wardell, Ma'ata Palavi-Makasini, Lavinia Taipaleti-Valu. The Tapa is joined together in four layers with cassava paste that stretches 20 metres in length by 1.5 metres in width. The stories presented are deeply personal, celebrating ancestors and heritage. These stories resonate with the blend of cultural traditions and experiences of living between cultures, balancing family values and cultural expectations in the high-pressured world we live where quality demands to be par excellence.

Despite many difficulties around financing such a large-scale community collaboration, these women and I attempted through the making of The Melbourne Tapa to be recognised as part of Melbourne's vibrant artistic culture. The artistic journey allowed us to help the general public to understand Pacific cultural experiences by interpreting our Pacific past, documenting the present and exploring our future here in Australia.

I extend my deep gratitude to Craft for the opportunity to be a Guest Curator, Hunt Club Community Arts Centre for all their in-kind support during the project, Australia Pacific Arts Network, the 13 Pacific women who created this historical piece of art, and my family. Without their support this project would not have been possible. The journey together has solidified ties between our individual homelands, the Samoan, Tongan, Fijian and Maori communities here in Melbourne. It is my hope that this journey will continue and that we as Pacific people celebrate openly who we are as individuals within a local, national and global community.

'Ofa atu

Loketi Niua Latu
Guest Curator, The Melbourne Tapa