Sulieti Fieme'a Burrows | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1951  (age 72)Falevai |
Sulieti Fieme'a Burrows MNZM (born 1951) is an artist and expert in the creation of tapa cloth. Born in Tonga, Burrows moved to New Zealand in the 1970s, bringing her knowledge of ngatu, the Tongan form of tapa, and other traditional Tongan crafts. Along with her daughter, Tui Emma Gillies, she has worked to share her expertise and revitalize the art of tapa.
Sulieti Topeni was born in 1951 and raised on the island of Falevai. [1] [2] As a child, one of her chores was to prune the trunks of the paper mulberry trees in her family's orchard to ensure the bark used to make tapa wouldn't have holes. [3] She would accompany her father on trips to the island's harbor to sell woven and sewn items to foreign visitors. [2]
She met her husband, Barry Burrows, when he crashed his yacht on a reef in Fiji and decided to vacation in Tonga. [2] Barry brought her to New Zealand to live in Manurewa in the 1970s. [2] Sulieti sold her crafts, including art on tapa cloth and kahoa heilala necklaces, at the Ōtara Markets until 2011. [2]
Her artwork includes contemporary motifs and designs, incorporating concepts from other textile art traditions. [4] She also creates representations of kahoa heilala, a traditional celebratory garland in Tonga, out of modelling clay, which have been purchased by the Otago Museum, the Auckland Museum, and the National Gallery of Victoria. [5]
Burrow's daughter, Tui Emma Gillies, continues the family tradition of creating tapa cloth. [3] Together they have presented workshops at institutions including the University of Hawai‘i, the University of Vienna, and the Museum of the Americas in Madrid. [3] [5] Gillies created a film, Vava’u ‘Falavai Flava, documenting Burrows's return to Vava’u and her work in reviving traditional ngatu practices. [6] Their artwork has been displayed at the Mangere Arts Centre, the Corban Estate Arts Centre, and the Tautai Gallery in Auckland. [4] [7] [8]
The mother and daughter team were recipients of the 2018 Pacific Heritage Art Award from Creative New Zealand, providing funds for the decoration of two large ngatu with women in Burrow's home village. [9] The project revived the art of ngatu in Falevai, where the tradition had no longer been widely practiced. [10]
In 2020, Burrows was honored as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in recognition of her "services to Tongan art and education". [11]
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about 750 km2 (290 sq mi), scattered over 700,000 km2 (270,000 sq mi) in the southern Pacific Ocean. As of 2021, according to Johnson's Tribune, Tonga has a population of 104,494, 70% of whom reside on the main island, Tongatapu. The country stretches approximately 800 km (500 mi) north-south. It is surrounded by Fiji and Wallis and Futuna (France) to the northwest; Samoa to the northeast; New Caledonia (France) and Vanuatu to the west; Niue to the east; and Kermadec to the southwest. Tonga is about 1,800 km (1,100 mi) from New Zealand's North Island.
The history of Tonga is recorded since the ninth century BC, when seafarers associated with the Lapita diaspora first settled the islands which now make up the Kingdom of Tonga. Along with Fiji and Samoa, the area served as a gateway into the rest of the Pacific region known as Polynesia. Ancient Tongan mythologies recorded by early European explorers report the islands of 'Ata and Tongatapu as the first islands having been hauled to the surface from the deep ocean by Maui.
Tongan is an Austronesian language of the Polynesian branch native to the island nation of Tonga. It has around 187,000 speakers. It uses the word order verb–subject–object.
A lavalava, also known as an 'ie, short for 'ie lavalava, is an article of daily clothing traditionally worn by Polynesians and other Oceanic peoples. It consists of a single rectangular cloth worn similarly to a wraparound skirt or kilt. The term lavalava is both singular and plural in the Samoan language.
The Tongan archipelago has been inhabited for perhaps 3000 years, since settlement in late Lapita times. The culture of its inhabitants has surely changed greatly over this long time period. Before the arrival of European explorers in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, the Tongans were in frequent contact with their nearest Oceanic neighbors, Fiji and Samoa. In the 19th century, with the arrival of Western traders and missionaries, Tongan culture changed dramatically. Some old beliefs and habits were thrown away and others adopted. Some accommodations made in the 19th century and early 20th century are now being challenged by changing Western civilization. Hence Tongan culture is far from a unified or monolithic affair, and Tongans themselves may differ strongly as to what it is "Tongan" to do, or not do. Contemporary Tongans often have strong ties to overseas lands. They may have been migrant workers in New Zealand, or have lived and traveled in New Zealand, Australia, or the United States. Many Tongans now live overseas, in a Tongan diaspora, and send home remittances to family members who prefer to remain in Tonga. Tongans themselves often have to operate in two different contexts, which they often call anga fakatonga, the traditional Tongan way, and anga fakapālangi, the Western way. A culturally adept Tongan learns both sets of rules and when to switch between them.
Tapa cloth is a barkcloth made in the islands of the Pacific Ocean, primarily in Tonga, Samoa and Fiji, but as far afield as Niue, Cook Islands, Futuna, Solomon Islands, Java, New Zealand, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Hawaii. In French Polynesia it has nearly disappeared, except for some villages in the Marquesas.
The Tuʻi Tonga Empire, or Tongan Empire, are descriptions sometimes given to Tongan expansionism and projected hegemony in Oceania which began around 950 CE, reaching its peak during the period 1200–1500.
The meʻetuʻupaki is an ancient Tongan group dance, already reported by early European navigators like captain Cook. This dance has been traditionally designed for men although women may take part if there are not enough men. The meʻe tuʻu paki resembles a kind of war dance; albeit, it is done with little symbolic paddles as opposed to arms.
Falevai is a settlement in the Vava'u islands in Tonga. The name Falevai, if translated into English means "water house." The name was given because of how the seas and the oceans surrounding the houses. Falevai's most famous names are lafa 'i tua and kuli fe kai. The settlement is also part of a 2.29km² Special Management Conservation Area. In 2014, there was a return of the traditional art of tapa-making in the village after decades of it being lost.
The Tonga National Museum is a national museum located in Nukuʻalofa, Tonga.
Dame Robin Adair White is a New Zealand painter and printmaker, recognised as a key figure in the regionalist movement of 20th-century New Zealand art.
Dagmar Vaikalafi Dyck is a New Zealand artist of Tongan and German descent. Dyck's prints and paintings are often inspired by her cultural heritage and explore textile practices of Tonga. In 2012, Dyck was co-curator of No'o fakataha, a group exhibition of Tongan artists. Dyck's inspirations come from Tonga’s textiles arts, which includes bark cloth, mats, baskets and clothes.
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Kolokesa Uafā Māhina-Tuai is a Tongan curator and writer, whose work explores the role of craft in Tongan society. In the 2022 New Year Honours, Māhina-Tuai was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to cultures and the arts.
Tunakaimanu Fielakepa is the foremost authority on koloa, the unique hand-made textiles produced by women in Tonga. She promotes the revitalisation of traditional techniques and practices both in Tonga and in other Pacific Island communities.
Kulimoe'anga Stone Maka, is an interdisciplinary artist of Tongan heritage who lives in Christchurch, New Zealand. In 2011, he was awarded the Emerging Pasifika Artist Award from Creative New Zealand. Maka's work has been exhibited in museums and art galleries in New Zealand, Hawai'i Australia and Tonga. In 2020 he was selected to represent New Zealand at the 22nd Biennale in Sydney.
Edith Amituanai is a New Zealand photographic artist. In 2007, she was the inaugural recipient of the Marti Friedlander Photographic Award. Examples of her work are held in the collections of Te Papa, Auckland Art Gallery, and the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery.
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