Tahiti

I’e. This i‘e (tapa beater), made from polished aluminium, is inspired from a traditional Tahitian i‘e. It is part of the artist’s own art collection and has featured in several exhibitions in Tahiti such as at the Museum of Tahiti as well as in art galleries. Beating the bark of trees was a very important traditional activity in ancient times that almost disappeared. The artist plays with the codes of traditional representation of heritage and offers a renewed way of perceiving and staging the i’e. He made it a contemporary work by using a modern material that questions our current relationship to the past as well as to art.

Illustration by Cecelia Faumuina