Artworks lent by the Centre des Métiers d'Art de Polynésie
Hihirau VAITOARE
Moai Kavakava
3D printing by selective laser sintering in stainless steel
Height: 10 cm
Rapa Nui: The Island of Stone Giants
"Rapa Nui is a Polynesian island located in the South Pacific Ocean and administered by Chile. It is better known as Easter Island, a name given by Dutch navigators who discovered it on an Easter Sunday. Its first inhabitants are believed to have come from the Marquesas, Tuamotu, and Gambier islands.
The island is world-famous for its exceptional archaeological sites, with 900 monumental statues called moai, erected between the 13th and 16th centuries. These sculptures depict human figures with oversized heads, carved mainly from volcanic tuff.
The moai are set upon large stone platforms called ahu.
Moai Kavakava
This double-headed statuette reflects the ancestral beliefs of the Rapa Nui people. It was carved from toromiro, a sacred wood native to Easter Island. Used during ceremonies in honor of the deceased, it symbolizes the transformation of beings into Aku Aku, guardian spirits who watch over the living. Brought to France around 1860 by Dr. Gilles, a naval physician, this piece is considered one of the finest collected in the 19th century, thanks to the delicacy of its carving and the finely arranged stylized patterns.
During a conversation in 2015 about 3D printing in the American offices of a major French company, the workshop manager told us that it would take a few more years before 3D printing became widespread and accessible to the general public. Here we are ten years later!
I wanted a purely traditional form, transposed into a contemporary material through this technological process."
Hihirau VAITOARE
Moai Kavakava
Manea MACE
Tapa Tīfaifai*
UV printing on Tapa* (cloth made of plant fiber)
90 x 45 cm
"To create this piece, conceived as a hymn to love, I drew inspiration from ancestral Polynesian traditions surrounding union and marriage. In ancient times, during the ceremony, the bride and groom would be wrapped together in a tapa — a cloth made from beaten bark. I used the bark of the paper mulberry tree (aute).
Today, the tīfaifai is used instead — a cloth made using patchwork techniques, characterized by a symmetrical and two-tone design. This tradition symbolizes the union of the couple.
According to another account, in Tahiti aux temps anciens (Tahiti in Ancient Times) by Teuira Henry, the author describes how the bride and groom would sit upon the tapa, considered a prestigious offering.
The central motif is a petroglyph from the Society Islands, discovered on a stone within an open-air temple (marae) on the island of Raiatea. It depicts a turtle — a protected species once highly valued for its meat and shell. The turtle is seen as a bridge between land and sea, representing a natural connection between two worlds.
Red symbolizes love in the West, destiny in Japan, and power in Polynesia. "
Manea MACE
*Tīfaifai: quilt, to patch together
*Tapa: cloth made from beaten plant fiber
Manea MACE
‘Ānave*
Braided, dyed coconut fiber
10 meters long
"Inspired by the Japanese legend of the red thread — Akai-Ito, the invisible string that binds us to the person we are destined to meet — this piece resonates with a powerful Polynesian symbol: the nape.
Across the Pacific, the nape, a braided coconut fiber (firi nape), embodies the idea of an unbreakable bond. Used for tying, sewing, and assembling, it connects the essential elements of material heritage: the beams of a house (fare), the various parts of a canoe (va‘a), or even sacred objects.
The act of tying or braiding goes beyond its utilitarian function — it symbolizes cohesion, unity, and transmission. To braid nape is also to perpetuate ancestral knowledge passed down through generations. It is an act that weaves a link between people and spirits, between the world of the living (ao) and that of the ancestors or gods (pō)."
Manea MACE
* ‘Ānave: line, rope, thread, couple, pair, to tie
Esrom TURINA
Interconnection in Space
Basalt stone sculpture
Height: 7 cm
"Carved from basalt rock, this sculpture invites us to explore the interconnectedness that weaves through the universe. Each sculpted form intertwines, evoking the deep and complex bonds that unite us — from the infinitely small to the vastness of space.
Basalt, a millennia-old stone born from the Earth’s depths, carries within it the memory of ancestors and the foundations of our shared culture — a legacy shaped by time and civilizations. It reveals the richness of the connections that link us to our past, to our environment, and invites us to reflect on our future."
Esrom TURINA