Twenty-five contemporary kapa makers gathered before the stage of Edith Kanaka`ole Stadium to see their creations come to life on the dancers of Halau O Kekuhi at the 2011 Merry Monarch Festival hoike. It was an other-worldly experience as the dancers, adorned in stunning kapa pa’u, kihei and malo, resurrected an image of pre-contact majesty, a magical melding of cultural practices, documented in the film Hana Ke Kapa, screened at the Kahilu Theatre on October 12, followed by a talk story with Marie McDonald, Roen Hufford, director Craig Howes, writer Victoria Nalani Kneubuhl and producer Joy Chong-Stannard. The film captures some of the journey of the kapa makers from ancestral voices to contemporary art.
The creation of cloth from bark had many different names and forms throughout the Pacific, but it reached its most advanced form, kapa, in Hawai`i. Hawaiian kapa has the distinction of water marks and a wide variety of colors derived from native plants. Art was a social, creative process that was completely entwined with daily life, not considered a separate entity. Every step of the process from cultivating the plants, harvesting, peeling the inner bark, soaking and pounding and adding decorative designs was a community effort and while the village life of pre-contact days is no longer in existence, the current project created an island wide community connected through the love of the art of kapa making.
The project had been percolating in Marie McDonald’s heart for about twenty years, but the rediscovery of the lost art of kapa began back in the seventies. “One of those "improvements of civilized society" was the introduction of woven cloth, which became so available that kapa-making disappeared within a century after Cook sailed through the islands. It wasn't until the 1970s, that a resurgence of interest and pride in the Hawaiian culture caused artisans like the Big Island's Kanae Keawe and Puanani Van Dorpe to research the old techniques and attempt to revive the art. Keawe says, ‘I was self-taught. There were no kupuna living who could tell us the correct way to make kapa, so I did a lot of research at Bishop Museum. I read Peter Buck's books and others on Hawaiian arts and crafts, studied Fijian kapa making at Polynesian Cultural Center. I'm a woodcarver originally, so I was able to recreate the tools.’" (Betty Fullard-Leo, http://www.coffeetimes.com/kapa2.htm)
Marie McDonald and her daughter Roen Hufford have been making art from nature for many years. When she and her husband moved to Hawaii Island, McDonald’s original idea was to grow flowers for lei making and this eventually expanded into the cultivation of wauke and native dye plants such as: `akala (native raspberry) for pink; `ama`uma`u (fern) for red; kukui for black and red, noni and `olena (turmeric) for yellows, ma‘o for greenish yellow and ukiuki for blue. After a couple of decades of experimentation and learning the craft, McDonald and daughter Hufford, began to create stunning works that were a hybrid of ancient technique and their own twentieth century vision.
Marie McDonald and her daughter Roen Hufford have been making art from nature for many years. When she and her husband moved to Hawaii Island, McDonald’s original idea was to grow flowers for lei making and this eventually expanded into the cultivation of wauke and native dye plants such as: `akala (native raspberry) for pink; `ama`uma`u (fern) for red; kukui for black and red, noni and `olena (turmeric) for yellows, ma‘o for greenish yellow and ukiuki for blue. After a couple of decades of experimentation and learning the craft, McDonald and daughter Hufford, began to create stunning works that were a hybrid of ancient technique and their own twentieth century vision.
As with much Hawaiian cultural knowledge, many of the ancient kapa designs and their symbolism have been lost with western contact. But there was much research done, and ultimately the kapa makers used an array of approaches that blended old knowledge with the new and illustrated their own personal dynamic as they engaged with the natural world. Many of the kapa makers such as Moana Eiselle, “…had symbolism that they attached to it. She had a mountain shape, she had stylized lei forms that she wanted to convey a certain story on her kapa. Many of the kapa makers do approach it like Moana did,” observed Hufford. Another kapa maker, Maile Andrade expands on that. “For Maile Andrade, the kaona, the hidden meaning, is what drives her. ‘I teach beyond the material to the concepts behind kapa,’ she says. ‘For instance, we have watermarks, but the rest of Polynesia doesn’t. How did that native see the world, for those things to appear? It wasn’t just for decoration: My point of view is that it has to do with mana [spiritual power], or protection, or god or ‘aumakua [ancestors; protector spirits] parallels.’” (Roland Gilmore, Hana Hou, Feb. / March 2009)
This spiritual connection surfaced in unexpected ways. Hufford relates, “The kapa makers in Hilo met with some of the dancers in the halau the day after (the hoike) and one kapa maker wanted to name her kapa, and so she was thinking of how...what the name should be and as she drove to work, there was a beautiful sunset and it reminded her of the colors that she had applied to her pa'u and the name came to her. And as she was sharing this with us...The girl who was wearing the pa'u...The girl who wore the pa'u and danced in it, that was her name. And we were all floored by this.”
This spiritual dimension was evident between the dancers and kapa makers. Director Craig Howes observed that, “There was no attempt at uniformity in the works that were produced. So that in fact, there are twenty-five or twenty-six potential documentaries here. This created a unique connection between kapa maker and dancer. We talked to the dancers and each dancer was very aware of who had created their kapa, how it had come together.”
Kapa making is an art form that begins with the life force of the land and receives the life force and spirit of the maker, which is then passed on to the wearer. Marie McDonald recalls the hoike with, “I felt that I had gone to the moon. Such joy. Joy to have accomplished this because we had been working so long. Not just me but all the other kapa makers who decided that they wanted to go on this trip. They were so good. We didn't realize how good they were until we saw their performances.” Indeed, the mana at the 2011 hoike was so powerful, it was almost visible. The makers imbued the kapa with the power of their creative efforts and the dancers completed the circle, calling out to the spirits of the ancestors. And what more fitting halau for this collaboration than Halau O Kekuhi, whose Kanaka`ole genealogy can be traced back eight generations?
This spiritual dimension was evident between the dancers and kapa makers. Director Craig Howes observed that, “There was no attempt at uniformity in the works that were produced. So that in fact, there are twenty-five or twenty-six potential documentaries here. This created a unique connection between kapa maker and dancer. We talked to the dancers and each dancer was very aware of who had created their kapa, how it had come together.”
Kapa making is an art form that begins with the life force of the land and receives the life force and spirit of the maker, which is then passed on to the wearer. Marie McDonald recalls the hoike with, “I felt that I had gone to the moon. Such joy. Joy to have accomplished this because we had been working so long. Not just me but all the other kapa makers who decided that they wanted to go on this trip. They were so good. We didn't realize how good they were until we saw their performances.” Indeed, the mana at the 2011 hoike was so powerful, it was almost visible. The makers imbued the kapa with the power of their creative efforts and the dancers completed the circle, calling out to the spirits of the ancestors. And what more fitting halau for this collaboration than Halau O Kekuhi, whose Kanaka`ole genealogy can be traced back eight generations?
Kuku kapa e! I ke kua, nā kē-kē-kē kapa e!
Strike the kapa! On the anvil, clang, clang, clang,the kapa! Strike the kapa!
Hohoa hoʻi e! Hoʻo pulu wai e!
The hohoa beater, too! Make it wet with water!
Kuʻi kuʻi ʻalā e! Huli huli i ke alo!
Pound on the stone! Turn it to the other side!
Laʻi laʻi moʻomoʻo, a ke kua!
Smoothly join pieces of kapa, on the anvil!
Strike the kapa! On the anvil, clang, clang, clang,the kapa! Strike the kapa!
Hohoa hoʻi e! Hoʻo pulu wai e!
The hohoa beater, too! Make it wet with water!
Kuʻi kuʻi ʻalā e! Huli huli i ke alo!
Pound on the stone! Turn it to the other side!
Laʻi laʻi moʻomoʻo, a ke kua!
Smoothly join pieces of kapa, on the anvil!
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