February 2, 2010

BRISBANE, Australia – Traditional Pacific island bark cloth stenciled with designs depicting a vision of a "New Garden" was one of the artworks commissioned for a prestigious exhibition at the Queensland Art Gallery.

The sixth Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art – APT6 – is now well into its four-month run and features works by some of the best-known artists of the Pacific region.

Prominent New Zealand artist Robin White was invited to participate, with organizers mentioning a possible collaboration with a tapa artist from Fiji. Eventually Mrs. White proposed that she work with two Fijians, Leba Toki and Bale Jione.

All three artists are Baha'is and used their vision of a future society to inspire their work.

"What we wanted to do was to present our vision of what Fiji could be – and what it will be," said Mrs. White.

In Fiji, she explained, almost all of the world's great religions are represented by a significant portion of the population – Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Christian, and a small but growing Baha'i community.

"That makes it special," she said. "Somehow we wanted to get that idea across."

The tapa – or masi, as the Fijians call the craft of tapa and the plant from which it is made – is traditionally made for a wedding, and the artists indeed used that concept.

"The idea was not about a literal wedding between two individuals but rather the idea of a marriage of cultures – namely the indigenous and Indian cultures that constitute contemporary Fijian society – connected by bonds of love and respect," Mrs. White said.

In the end, many elements were incorporated into their tapa. For the main piece, a vision of the Shrine of the Bab in the Holy Land and its surrounding terraces was combined with images of importance to Fijians.

For Mrs. Toki, the mere act of a Fijian like herself collaborating with a New Zealander to create artwork on tapa was a breakthrough.

"I knew that only the Fijians can do the tapa," she said, remembering her skepticism when Mrs. White first contacted her for an earlier project. "I was thinking, ‘How can we work together?'"

For Mrs. White, it was during her travels in the Pacific that she had gotten the idea of a collaboration. Already a well-known artist in other media, she had known about the tapa produced in Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga. But when she saw a particularly beautiful piece hanging in the transit lounge in the Nadi airport, she decided she must learn the technique for making it.

In Fiji, she met Mrs. Toki at a Baha'i gathering and later at the Toki residence noticed some beautiful tapa on the wall.

"Who did these?" Mrs. White asked.

When she discovered that Mrs. Toki herself was the artist, an idea was born. At first Mrs. Toki was reluctant to work jointly – she had never heard of the type of tapa she did being created by anyone other than Fijians. But when she discovered that Mrs. White indeed was an artist, she was willing to give it a go. And when they began collaborating, she found the relationship rewarding.

"Working together is very powerful," Mrs. Toki says now. "Different races, both giving ideas."

She said a pattern of consultation, action, and reflection – familiar to all three women through their Baha'i activities – became a key part of the creation of their artwork for the APT6 exhibition.

The trio completed their new work several months ago and traveled to Brisbane in early December for the opening of APT6 and to participate in stimulating conversations with other artists from throughout the Asian Pacific region.

The exhibition runs through 5 April.

Baha'i World News Service