Watch: Dalani Tanahy at the ‘Ahu: Ngā Wairua o Hina wānanga
Watch Hawaiian kapa artist Dalani Tanahy talk about her work as a kapa maker and artist.
“There must always be innovation in art. You know that. But with traditional arts there must always remain a connection to it... You know, you learn the art, you break the art, you recreate the art.”
Dalani Tanahy (Hawai‘i) is an artist and maker of kapa, Hawaiian bark cloth – from growing wauke and making tools, to producing natural dyes, and beating the inner layer of wauke bark into a soft material.
Mostly self-taught, Dalani started making kapa when the once-dormant art form was being revived. She has been involved in teaching, sharing, and demonstrating kapa-making both in Hawai'i and internationally, ensuring that the knowledge and skills from her ancestors are passed on to future generations.
Watch Dalani Tanahy talking about her Hawaiian kapa practice and what it means to her at the 2023 ‘Ahu: Ngā Wairua o Hina in Tahiti.
‘Ahu: Ngā Wairua o Hina
In 2021, Te Papa acquired a rare book containing tapacloth samples, cut from larger pieces collected during Captain Cook’s Pacific voyages in 1768, 1772, and 1776, and compiled by Alexander Shaw in 1787. The samples represent tapa-making practices from various islands including Hawai‘i, Tahiti and Tonga.
In 2023, in Tahiti, ‘Ahu: Ngā Wairua o Hina gathered tapa makers of Tongan, Sāmoan, Niuean, Fijian, Hawaiian, Tahitian, Pitcairn-Norfolk Island, and Māori descent for five days to learn about and re-establish their living relationships to the cloth held within Alexander Shaw’s book.
Through a process of wānanga this group of makers created two tapa bundles, incorporating the ideas of past, present, and future – one of the bundles is with Te Papa and the other with Te Fare Iamanaha-Musée de Tahiti et des Îles.
