MANAMANAMANAMANA

Exhibition Catalogue Cuming Museum

February 28 to July 15 2006

Ornament And Adornment From The Pacific

www.southwark.gov.uk/cumingmuseum

The Cuming Museum Pacific collection includes objects collected by the Cuming family in the early 19th Century together with donations to the museum just after it opened in 1906. Most of the items have not been displayed since 1940. Some items, such as the bark cloth and mats, have never been displayed.

The Cuming family purchased their collection from auctions and sales, often of older museums in London. Some objects were brought to England after the early European voyages to the Pacific region in the late 18th

century. These include items collected during the second and third voyages of Captain James Cook, between 1772 and 1780. They also include textiles brought back by Captain Wilson after the missionary voyage of the ship the Duff in 1799. These were donated to the museum by one of his descendants in 1906.

See more of the Cuming collection on the online database; www.southwarkcollections.org.uk.

The Cuming Museum Pacific Collection

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2. Tapa mat from Samoa, collected by a member of Captain Wilson’s family, late 19th or early 20th century.

1. Cowry, teeth and coir chest ornament, Papua New Guinea, pre 1840. 2. Coconut bracelet, Tonga, pre 1840. 3. Shell necklace,Tonga,1800. 4. High-ranking Samoan child, late 19th century.

greenstone could be worn only by people of high rank. Important objects were passed down through families, acquiring more Mana as they became connected with the stories and exploits of ancestors who owned them.

Adornments and ornaments are worn as everyday items but have a special role for celebrations and events. Garments made of fibre and bark cloth function more as ornaments than as clothing and are presented as gifts at important events.

Within traditional Pacific cultures, jewellery, clothing and skin decoration are more than simply fashion. Adornment can express ethnic and social identity, rank and wealth.

Adornments are made from natural materials found locally or traded across vast distances. Materials used include shell, bone, teeth, seeds, wood, stone, feathers, fur and cordage made from plant fibres. Materials with Mana such as whale and dogteeth, precious red feathers, human hair and

Ornament and Adornment from the Pacific

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ManaManaManaMana- A Polynesian word meaning power, status, prestige, and dignity.

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“I think this programme is educational and helps you with creative skills. Also you get to find out about different backgrounds and see jewellery from different countries. I enjoyed the programme because it helped me create jewellery which I never knew I could do.” - Nisha Harewood

A group of five young women from Southwark have participated in workshops at the Cuming museum to create contemporary jewellery inspired by the museum’s historic collection. They learnt various techniques and designed and selected their final pieces for display in the exhibition.

The workshops were run by Southwark-based artist Rosanna Raymond. Through her knowledge of Pacific cultures, Rosanna has brought a new passion and understanding to the collection. Her work with

the young women has given them new skills, and has opened up the museum collection to new vision and creativity.

“Through the Pacific Horizons project I have been able to share aspects of my cultural heritage and watch these young women tap into their creative energy and produce many beautiful pieces of jewellery.”- Rosanna Raymond

Above left: A necklace by Desiree Stephens. Above right: Nisha, Amina and Retania making necklaces.

The Contemporary Craft Project

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Rosanna Raymond examining a Cuming collection pandana dance skirt.

Maori and Pacific art for the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

A ‘Tusitala’ (a teller of tales) at heart her work takes a variety of forms ranging from installation works, spoken words and body adornment, with works held in museum and private collections around the world.

Rosanna Raymond is a performance, installation, body adornment artist and writer. She is a New Zealander of Samoan decent, currently living and working in Southwark with her family.

Raymond has forged a role for herself over the past 15 years as a producer and commentator on contemporary Pacific Island culture, fusing traditional Pacific practises with modern innovations and techniques. She co-curated the 2006 Pasifika Styles exhibition celebrating 21st century New Zealand

Rosanna Raymond

“I feel a strong bond to my ancestors when I meet “artefacts” in museum collections. A direct line (whakapapa) of communication opens up, the past becomes present.”

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Nguru, Maori Nose Flute

I have a sweet voice Able to enchant, able to mystify Able to woo a perfect suitor. However, locked away, strangled, I have no voice! Muffled while onlookers gaze at me. “How quaint, a native instrument!” Alas, I am the voice of nobility The voice of Hinraukatauri, the voice of the Gods. He nguru, e ngunguru ana e.

-Che Wilson, Maori Martial Arts Expert

Rediscovery- The ‘Ie Sina Mat

It was an accidental moment that led to the re-discovery of the Cuming ‘Ie Sina, folded neatly into a box labelled African, I swiftly proclaimed her a Samoan and revelled in the moment of meeting a garment so imbued with the Mana of my culture. I was thrilled and thought what strange twist of fate brought us both here to a tiny museum in Southwark...what stories we could tell each other. -Rosanna Raymond, Artist

Nguru nose flute made from the neck of a gourd. Late 18th or early 19th century Maori.

Responses to the Cuming Pacific Collection

This rare late 18th century Samoan mat was unidentified for 100 years in the Cuming stores.

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Tahitian Tapa Poncho

This wonderful fragment provides a tangible and inspirational link to the ways of old Tahiti. In 1994 I researched early tapa in the Auckland Museum's collection as part of a commission to create the Pacific Panels in New Zealand's Parliament Buildings. With the team of young Pacific designers we printed the large fabric pieces using traditional methods like direct leaf prints and woodblocks we'd learnt from these old tapa. I still use these techniques, see www.pacificshirts.co.nz. -Jean Clarkson, Auckland Museum

Tapeka/ Taatua Maori Belt

It is old words that bind me, chanted, strip upon strip I am layered with a love for revenge made, to fit a warriors body, to carry weapons of war, be smeared in enemy blood, following death’s blow, to settle old scores for sure, now, a curiosity, a beauty perhaps, bound by another's ideas in glass television-like box, old hands and thoughts made me, new ones seek me now, to know me is to know themselves

-Karl Burrows, Maori Performance Artist, Manaia

Manaia performing at the Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre.

Detail from New Zealand Parliament's Pacific Panels.

Maori flax belt, early 19th century.

Tapa poncho, Tahiti, 1779, Duff Voyage.

Cuming Museum 155-157 Walworth Road London SE17 1RS Tel 020 7525 2332 www.southwark.gov.uk/cumingmuseum cuming.museum@southwark.gov.uk

Plus

Tapa beater, Tahiti

Shell, bone, & tooth necklace, Tonga

Hair necklace, Hawaii

Treasure box, Maori

Fine mat, Tahiti

Flax bag, Maori

Girdle, Caroline Islands

Headrest, Tonga

Seed necklace, Melanesia

Shell necklace, Fiji

Shell, coconut & tooth necklace, Micronesia

Dogtooth necklace, Papua New Guinea

Comb, Tahiti

Comb, Melanesia

Wood comb, Maori

Whalebone whistle, Maori

Written and designed by Bryn Hyacinth, Museum Officer