Koloa: Tongan Art, Female Wealth and Self Empowerment

Description

Para Site presents Koloa: Women, Art and Technology, a touring exhibition featuring Tongan art practices referred to as koloa, based on the life-long research of Lady Tunakaimanu Fielakepa–the foremost Tongan authority on these practices.

The exhibition thus features a rich array of Tongan art practices, focused on the main categories constituting koloa: ngatu (bark cloth) making, fine weaving such as ta’ovala garments and ceremonial mats, and kafa (woven rope). The array includes prized heirloom pieces as well as newly-made examples specially commissioned for the exhibition.

These new pieces ensure a full exploration of design motifs and techniques of Tongan artistic practices, while supporting Lady Tunakaimanu Fielakepa’s vision to stimulate and support village-based women’s groups who maintain the skills, stories, songs, and knowledge that make up koloa.

At Para Site, the exhibition expands its scope with a parallel curated presentation of three women artists, Tanya Edwards, Nikau Hindin, and Vaimaila Urale, that further reflects upon the status of aesthetic lineages in the Pacific as inseparable manifestations of art and technology.