Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 12, Number 5, 1 May 1995 — Kapa re-emerges as art and potential industry [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Kapa re-emerges as art and potential industry

bv Deborah L. Ward Since she began studying and making Hawaiian kapa 10 years ago, Kawaikaula'au Aona-Ueoka, a Ka'a'awa-based artist, has dedicated herself to assuring a future for kapa-making as an art, and as a profession and industry that will benefit the native Hawaiian community. With the aid of a grant from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Aona-Ueoka this month will be teaching kapa-making workshops in native Hawaiian communities in hopes of getting other

Hawaiians involved in this future. With the information gained through the workshops AonaUeoka will also begin an in-depth market needs analysis of a kapamaking industry in Hawai'i. She will look at the availability of resources, community needs, and make recommendations for potential market expansion and development of product ideas.

Aona-Ueoka's goal is to determine how kapa ean flourish as

both a traditional Hawaiian art form and basis for contemporary uses in Hawai'i, and to realize that aim. Toward this end, in 1991 Aona-Ueoka formed the Kapa Aloha Perpetuation Association (KAPA) with other traditional Hawaiian artisans and craftspersons, "to support the research, restoration, preservation and perpetuation of the recreation and refinement of the art and customs of traditional Hawaiian kapa-making." KAPA and the 'Uhane Noa Foundation, a nonprofit organization of native Hawaiian artists seeking to per-

petuate native Hawaiian art forms, made the grant proposal together to OHA. Like other fine art forms of ancient Hawai'i, kapa-making was nearly extinct as a living tradition supported by the eommunity. In recent years it has been rediscovered and nurtured by a handful of artisans. For centuries, kapa, the cloth

pounded from the bark of the wauke plant (also the māmake,

'ulu and hau), was made and used by Hawaiians for clothing, blankets and bedding. Because of their skill and artistry, Hawaiian women brought this Polynesian art to the highest level. Kapa was soft, likened to fine muslin, yet durable, and dyed in many hues. With its printed geometric designs and unique watermarks, the cloth was highly prized. Why would anyone today want to make Hawaiian kapa? Aona-Ueoka says her workshop is for those who are interested in maintaining or renewing their connection to their culture or to the 'āina, or for self-enrichment and personal growth, as well as for a livelihood. Aona-Ueoka says that kapa is in demand today by native Hawaiians for spiritual and religious ceremonies, by schools and institutions for cultural education, by hālau hula for teaching and performances, by corporations and businesses interested in kapa as fine art, and by domestic and foreign markets seeking authentic Hawaiian-made products. She says, "My belief is,

first and foremost, that Hawaiians should produce Hawaiian kapa, if kapa is to eome back as a renewed form of fine art. I want to give Hawaiians this opportunity." She hopes to involve more people in the Hawaiian eommunity as growers and supplies of prepared bark, as tool-makers, and as skilled kapa-makers who ean make both traditional and Western-adapted articles. The journey of self-discovery through kapa that Aona-Ueoka offers her students, evolved out of her training as a kumu hula under Maiki Aiu Lake. Finding that kapā was scarce, she set about leaming from kapa makers Malia Solomon, Beatrice Krauss and Pua Van Dorpe. She learned to māke her own tools and has obtained community support to plant and care for wauke. Through research, trial and error she has refined the process of manufacturing kapa. She has since taught adult education classes, community workshops, been trained in kapa preservation at the Smithsonian Institutions; and produced a video about kapa-making. She has produced kapa for repatriation and reburial of Hawaiian skeletal remains; and for fine art work. She has also obtained commissions from corporations and businesses for the production of Hawaiian fine art kapa. She says, "Kapa-making ean be an avenue in whieh native Hawaiians ean connect with their . ancestbrs in a way that requires one to practice the values and

skills that they perpetuated. Kapamaking ean also be an opportunity for native Hawaiians to obtain eeonomie self-sufficiency and be a means to provide for themselves and their families... Through participation in KAPA, native Hawaiians will be able to inte-

grate the elements of their culture, their values and their behefs into their ever-changing environment, and remain true to themselves ... and to be able to pass on their eulture to the next generation to mālama and perpetuate."

"My belief is, first anel foremost, that Hawaiians should produce Hawaiian kapa, if kapa is to eome back as a renewed form of fine art. I want to give Hawaiians this opportunity."

A wauke sapling towers over kapa-maker Kawaikaula'au Aona-Ueoka. She is seeking peopie who are interested in growing, harvesting and processing quality wauke bark to support kapa-making by native Hawaiians. Stands of wauke were onee abundant throughout the islands. Photos courtesy Kawaikaula'au Aona-Ueoka.