Le Tanoa
Collaborating Artist Ronald Andreassend If this collection started with one idea it was about a daughter who wanted to reflect everything that she felt about her culture, her village, her family and her place in the family. An object that would be the centrepiece and incorporate many aspects from culture, tradition, aspirations, memories and connections between a traditional and a modern world, some ideas seemingly in conflict with each other. It was almost too much for a small collection let alone one object. This is a story and work about the Pisa Family and Taiai Pisa`s vision to develop ideas and objects that explore her thoughts, ideals and ambitions. It was always going to be a long process and took months, conceptually, visually and technically challenging before even being able to drill the first hole. It was like going back to square one and reinventing the process to achieve the objective without any compromise in a single statement. Le Tanoa is a vessel supported by 3 legs representing their family of three daughters. reflecting the bond and support that families can give to each other both in life`s journeys, happy times, hardships and grief. There are so many layers to this piece it almost needs an essay written about it. |
I am not sure what people will say or their reactions to Le Tanoa in the future, for some it has so much meaning now that I think its taking on a life of its own with people feeling it reflects their own values, family, aspirations and culture. I guess it’s a good sign when people feel they have a connection with it too. Creatively Le Tanoa was always going to be different to anything else before, that’s what creative minds seemingly can`t help but do and it certainly lived up to that. This has been a collaboration unlike my other projects, there are protocols, values and culture to honour and simply to be part of it is a privilege. I still think back what I was doing three years ago and to what I do and who I meet now. It is still very much surreal and still have those moments it is almost a dream to wake up from. Taiai calls this piece Le Tanoa, but to me it will be always simply `3 sisters` and a specific moment in their lives. |
Le Tanoa
JOSEPH A J PAUL·TUESDAY, MAY 23, 2017 I’m not exactly sure how one is meant to write about art describing its many features with its underlying mysticisms woven into its structure. I haven’t attended enough shows to know exactly how one is meant to conduct themselves as a “writer” of art however attending the Baradene Art Show would show me a world where I never thought I’d fit in. I can’t help but feel the need to share with you how this special piece began to tattoo itself into my spirit. The emotions that began to surface, the paradigms that began to vibrate toward the front of my thought space & the memories that began to once again make themselves known. Loss, loneliness, sorrow, pain, joy, laughter and a desire to have things simple. Le Tanoa brought to mind the many challenges I witnessed growing up in a Samoan home doing all it could to hold onto the purities of Samoan Culture. Its Language, customs, dance, religion and poetry all began to rattle my thought space gazing at this elegant piece. I began to drift away as my mind began to explore how different life could be if the introduction of western life had not introduced itself. Only my ancestors would know what that was like. The western world had made it difficult to merge our world into its systems which to this day still remain evident. It would be a centre stage of my many conflicts trying to meet the demands of my culture without displeasing my palagi world.As a child I would watch my parents hold desperately onto the values of Fa’asamoa (Samoan Culture). A grip they held ever so tightly knowing that the country that we so proudly sing “God defend New Zealand” frowned upon any indigenous culture. There are no words to express my gratitude for what they did for me. Banning the english language in our home allowed me and my siblings to embrace what made us unique. We could speak two languages, some of us three, cook food without the use or assistance of technology and make do with what little we have. How two cans of Mackerel, a small pot of rice or boiled banana’s could feed a family of five. The miracles of added onions, standard flour and bucket of love. Life was at its best, simple. |
The glowing lights of Le Tanoa embodies the hope my family and many other Samoan families deeply desired. To shine brightly for who we are without criticism and without fear. To be OK in just being US. The flower inside reminds me that the beauty of our culture is not in our cultural clothing, tattoo’s, music or art but rather in its wholeness. Fa’asamoa is an inside essence that longs to once again be fully expressed in its purity. It is more than our cultural exteriors. It more than our language. Its is everything that is us. A purity screaming that regardless of who and where we are, from the same bowl, everybody ate, look after it. A message strengthened by its legs giving proof that without each other our light will never shine upward and outward but instead be on a lean taking away its unifying effect. We are family and no conflict could ever strip us of from this reality.. Perhaps that is what this is the lesson my parents have been trying to teach me all along. Having lost a sister to cancer we are no longer seven and the loss of anymore will result in a Tanoa without stability and eventually a baseless bowl that will fail to remain planted. The cracks of our past have left our Tanoa in the dark. there to collect dust and left subject to the rust that have eroded its once splendour structure. Le Tanoa gives me hope that one day my family will see past our indifferences and became what we have always been destined to be. A Family. Maybe we already are. I get it. |