Medium
Acrylic and oil pastel on cotton watercolour paper
Description
Ngatu (Tongan tapa) often depict the cyclical patterns of earth. Sailing kalia (canoes), Polynesian wayfinders explored the Pacific. The fin shapes represent kalia sails; nine, for the nine island cultures.
The kalia held hundreds of people, with food and supplies. Proficiency in reading the stars, wind, water and bird migration enabled the wayfinders to navigate, reaching all corners of the Pacific. Today, with rising sea levels, displaced islanders must, yet again, find a new home.
impressionism Art, landscape Art
#ocean, #canoes, #bold, #colour, #tapa, #navigation, #way finders, #pattern, #stars, #explorer, #Polynesian, #Tonga, #Kalia, #Oceania
Medium
Acrylic and oil pastel on cotton watercolour paper
Description
Ngatu (Tongan tapa) often depict the cyclical patterns of earth. Sailing kalia (canoes), Polynesian wayfinders explored the Pacific. The fin shapes represent kalia sails; nine, for the nine island cultures.
The kalia held hundreds of people, with food and supplies. Proficiency in reading the stars, wind, water and bird migration enabled the wayfinders to navigate, reaching all corners of the Pacific. Today, with rising sea levels, displaced islanders must, yet again, find a new home.