A tapa cloth banner with the words Ahu-nga wairua o hina

‘Ahu: Ngā wairua o Hina – Tapa workshops in Tahiti

In 2019, Rachel Yates (Vaisala, Savaii), then Curator Pacific Cultures, lead the acquisition of one of Alexander Shaw’s tapa samplers into our collection. The samplers represent tapa-making practices from various islands including Hawai‘i, Tahiti and Tonga and was presented as a gift by the Te Papa Foundation, purchased with Charles Disney Art Trust funds.

In 2023, ‘Ahu: ngā wairua o Hina, a wānanga attended by makers, Te Papa curators, and our Senior Librarian, was held in Tahiti to explore and respond to the samplers in the book.

A group of people in colourful and patterned clothing are standing and smiling at the camera.

‘Ahu: ngā wairua o Hina – a tapa making wānanga in Tahiti

In the first of four blogs about this kaupapa, Senior Curator Pacific Histories and Cultures Sean Mallon introduces the continuation of this project and the wānanga that happened in Tahiti late 2023.

Eight people are standing in the ocean with the waves at their ankles. They are holding bits of bark cloth.

Watch interviews with the tapa artists and makers

Watch interviews with the artists and makers of tapa talking about how they started tapa making, where they are with the practice now, and sharing what their work means to them.

An old water-damaged book with pieces of tapa inserted into it.

Alexander Shaw’s tapa sampler at Te Papa

In the second blog in this series, Rebecca and Martin talk about the sampler, how it got here, and what it means for communities now.

Several women standing in a group in the late afternoon sun. Some of them are holding bundles of tapa.

‘Ahu: Ngā wairua o Hina – Making for the past, present, and future

Mātauranga Māori Curator Isaac Te Awa and Co-Director Pauline Reynolds take us through some of the makers’ reactions to the Shaw book at the 2023 wānanga in Tahiti.

Vairua o Hina vahine: Beated distances and reconnections through tapa making at Te Fare Iamanaha – Musée de Tahiti et des Îles

Dr Marine Vallée Assistant curator at Te Fare Iamanaha – Musée de Tahiti et des Îles, talks about welcoming the workshop group and the Shaw sampler book to Tahiti and what it meant to Te Fare Iamanaha.

View the pages of the sampler on Collections Online

A catalogue of the different specimens of Pacific barkcloth collected on the three voyages of Captain Cook to the Southern Hemisphere.

View the tapa from the ‘Ahu: Ngā Wairua o Hina at Te Papa

The group at ‘Ahu: Ngā Wairua o Hina worked together to re-establish their living relationships to the cloth samples in the Alexander Shaw book and created two tapa bundles, incorporating the ideas of past, present, and future. Today, one of the bundles resides with Te Papa and the other with Te Fare Iamanaha-Musée de Tahiti et des Îles. View taonga (treasures) in the Te Papa bundle.