Te Wai Ponamu Hona Paku poi

The term Kapa haka (kapa meaning 'rank' or 'row' and haka refers to a Māori dance) is commonly known in Aotearoa as 'Maori Performing Arts' or the 'cultural dance' of Maori people. Kapa haka is an avenue for Maori people to express their heritage and cultural identity through song and dance.

It can be said that Kapa haka dates back to pre-European times where it developed from all traditional forms of Maori pastimes; haka, mau rakau (Maori weaponry), poi (tiny ball attached to rope or string) and moteatea (traditional Maori songs). The significance of these everyday activitites were influential to the development of kapa haka.

A kapa haka performance involves choral singing, dance and movements associated in the hand-to-hand combat practiced by Māori in precolonial times, presented in a synchronisation of action, timing, posture, footwork and sound. The genre evolved out of a combination of European and Māori musical principles.

Performance practice[link]

The work of a kapa haka consists of the performance of a suite of songs and dances spanning several types of Māori music and dance, strung together into a coherent whole. Music and dance types that normally appear are waiata tira (warm-up song), whakaeke (entrance song), waiata-ā-ringa (action song), haka (challenge), pou or mōteatea (old-style singing), poi (co-ordinated swinging of balls attached to cords), and whakawātea (closing song). They may also include tītī tōrea (synchronised manipulation of thin sticks). In a full performance, which can last up to 40 minutes, each music or dance type may appear more than once.

Music for kapa haka is primarily vocal. All song types, with the notable exceptions of mōteatea and haka, are structured around European-style harmony, frequently with guitar accompaniment. Spurts of haka-style declamation are woven into the songs, as are dance movements, facial expressions and other bodily and aural signals unique to Māori. Song poetry is completely in Māori and new material is continually being composed.

The sole musical instruments used in kapa haka performances are the guitar, the pūtatara conch shell, the sounds of poi and rākau (see below) and body percussion.

Kapa haka are mixed groups of anywhere between several and dozens of people, dressed in neo-traditional Māori dress. These groups comprise individuals linked in some way, be it by extended family group, iwi (tribe), school, or some other association. Performers are largely synchronised, but with men sometimes doing some actions while women do others. A few performers have particular roles, such as the kaitataki (male and female leaders), often moving among the performers to urge them on. Composers, arrangers, choreographers and costume designers also play major roles.

Every two years, kapa haka from all parts of New Zealand compete in Te Matatini, New Zealand's national Māori performing arts competition for adult groups. Another important competition takes place yearly at the ASB Bank Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, commonly known as Polyfest, where the level of performance is also very high.

Music and dance styles used by kapa haka[link]

Young Māori man with taiaha

Not all Māori performance types are used by kapa haka. Below are brief descriptions of the ones that usually appear. See Māori music for a wider discussion of Māori music.

• Waiata tira are choral pieces used to warm up the vocal cords and introduce the group to the audience. Through a waiata tira the group announces its arrival in a manner that is generally light and positive.

• Whakaeke are also choral pieces. They are frequently used to comment on a social issue of the day or to commemorate an individual or some element of Māoridom. They may also simply be used as the entrance song to announce the group's arrival.

• Haka are best described as challenges. They are used to make a point and to vent anger. They are performed by both men and women, with the focus on the men in the front and support from the women behind. They are vocal performances involving rhythmic declamation in triple metre and aggressive or challenging facial expressions (pūkana, literally "glaring"), body movements and demeanour. The men make heavy use of foot stamping, body percussion, and grimace in an attempt to appear as menacing as possible. Haka are often described as traditional war dances but in fact had many other uses as well in precolonial Māori society, and have many peaceful uses today.

• Waiata-ā-ringa (literally "song of hands or arms") are "action songs", which means that they display the typical Polynesian practice of embellishing and reinforcing the sung poetry with arm and hand actions. They are performed by men and women with women in the front and men in the back. Some use melodies from common English-language songs with new lyrics in Māori, while others are newly-composed, treating a wide variety of topics. They feature the wiri or trembling of the hands to indicate the interface between the mind and the body.

• Poi are women's dances involving the swinging of balls, about the size of tennis balls, attached to cords. Poi's origins lie in the precolonial practice of training with poi to improve agility in battle, but today poi is used to showcase the beauty and gracefulness of the women. Poi were traditionally used by women on long Waka voyages as a mean of keeping timing of the male paddlers, in the style of a coxwain. This is the reason for the emphasis of the sound of the poi striking the hand. Performers swing the balls in synchrony in a variety of figures and rhythms while simultaneously singing a song (a waiata poi) accompanied by guitar. They demonstrate great dexterity and coordination, particularly with "long poi", with cords up to a metre long, where four poi at once may be manipulated by each performer. Formerly the balls were made of raupo and the cords of flax but today they tend to be made of plastic shopping-bag material and yarn. The sound of poi striking the hands is an important part of the musical accompaniment.

• Tītī tōrea are occasionally used by kapa haka. Tītī tōrea are pairs of carved thin sticks about shoulder width manipulated with dextrous wrist and arm work, often simultaneously passed between performers. Like poi, tītī tōrea figures are performed in synchrony and to music (and like poi, their sounds, especially that of the ends hitting the floor together, form a percussive accompaniment); and, also like poi, arose out of a precolonial warrior training technique.

• Pou or mōteatea are unison songs performed in a style reminisicent of precolonial Māori singing. They are an important genre within Maoridom because they tell stories in which historical, genealogical and cultural information is preserved and thus link Māori with their past. Mōteatea come in a variety of forms including laments, lullabies, and songs about revenge, anger, and love.

• Whakawātea are choral pieces used to farewell the audience or make a final point before departing the stage. They may pick up on themes raised in the whakaeke or comment on the event at hand. Performers are often at the side or back of the stage.

^[1]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kapa haka

• Maori.org kapa haka page
• Research in New Zealand Performing Arts - a free online research journal that discusses contemporary kapa haka and related Maori performing arts.

Kapa is a fabric that was made by Native Hawaiians from the bast fibres of certain species of trees and shrubs in the orders Rosales and Malvales. It is similar to tapa found elsewhere in Polynesia but differs in the methods used in its creation. Kapa was based primarily on the creative combination of linear elements that cross and converge to form squares, triangles, chevrons and diagonal forms, giving a feeling of boldness and directness.^[1] (The Hawaiian /k/ phoneme corresponds to Polynesian /t/.) Kapa was used primarily for clothing like the malo worn by men as a loincloth and the pāʻū worn by women as a wraparound. Kapa was also used for kīhei used over the shoulders. Other uses for kapa depended on caste and a person's place in ancient Hawaiian society. Kapa moe (bed covers) were reserved for the aliʻi or chiefly caste while kapa robes were used by kāhuna or priestly caste. Kapa was also used as banners where leis were hung from it and images of their gods were printed on it.^[2]

Cultural anthropologists over the course of the twentieth century identified techniques in the creation of kapa that was unique to the Hawaiian Islands. Wauke (Broussonetia papyrifera) was the preferred source of bast fibres for kapa, but it was also made from ʻulu (Artocarpus altilis),^[3] ōpuhe (Urera spp.),^[4] maʻaloa (Neraudia melastomifolia),^[5] māmaki (Pipturus albidus),^[6] ʻākala (Rubus hawaiensis), ʻākalakala (R. macraei), and hau (Hibiscus tiliaceus).^[7] In the 18th century, pieces of kapa were often made of grooving or ribing. It is done by pushing the dampened cloth into the grooves of a special board.^[8] The wauke tree was cut and soaked in water. It was then laid on a kua kūkū (polished stone tablet) and beaten with a hōhoa (rounded beater). After the first phase of beating, the kapa was transferred to a sacred house to be beaten a second time but in a religious manner. Each kapa manufacturer used a beater called an ʻiʻe kūkū, a beater with four flat sides that were each carved differently. Another way to carve the kapa is by starting on the four-sided affairs, with the coarsest grooves on one side used first in breaking down the bast, or wet bark. Then, the beating continued using two sides with finer grooves. Lastly, finishing touches were accomplished with the remaining smooth side of the beater.^[9] The carvings left an impression in the cloth that was hers alone. After the European discovery of the Hawaiian Islands, Western traders travelled to Hawaiʻi especially for kapa.

The process of making kapa was done primarily by women. Young girls would learn by helping their mothers, over time doing the majority of the work, and when older she could make kapa by herself.^[10]

Images[link]

• 

  Hawaiian kapa, 18th century, Cook-Foster Collection at Georg-August University in Göttingen, Germany

• 

  Hawaiian kapa, 18th century, Cook-Foster Collection at Georg-August University in Göttingen, Germany

References[link]

• Arkinstall, Patricia Lorraine, "A Study of Bark Cloth from Hawaii, Samoa, Tonga and Fiji, An Exploration of the Regional Development of Distinctive Styles of Bark Cloth and its Relationship to Other Cultural Factors, Ithaca, N.Y., Cornell University, 1966.
• Brigham, William Tufts, Ka hana kapa, Making of Bark-cloth in Hawaii, Honolulu, Bishop Museum Press, 1911.
• Kaeppler, Adrienne Lois, The Fabrics of Hawaii (Bark Cloth), Leigh-on-Sea, England, F. Lewis, 1975.
• Kaeppler, Adienne L, Kapa: Hawaiian Bark Cloth, Honolulu, Boom Books, 1980.

External links[link]

• Cook-Foster Collection at Georg-August University in Göttingen, Germany
• Kapa Connection
• Hawaiian Kapa Making
• Hawaiian Kapa History
• Contemporary Hawaiian Kapa
• "Kapa: Fabric of a Culture" Article about the art of kapa making and kapa master Pua Van Dorpe by Rita Goldman. Maui No Ka 'Oi Magazine Vol.12, No.1 (January 2008)
• "Kapa: More to Learn" Pua Van Dorpe's kapa collection honoring 11 Maui chiefs. Maui No Ka 'Oi Magazine Vol.12, No.1 (January 2008)

Festival of Pacific Arts
Dates	Every four years
Location(s)	Oceania; host country varies. Future hosts: 2012: Solomon Islands ;[1] 2016: Guam .[2]
Years active	Since 1972; see table below
Genre	Pacific Islands music and dance
Website	Festival history, Current festival (redirect page)

The Festival of Pacific Arts, or Pacific Arts Festival, is a traveling festival hosted every four years by a different country in Oceania (map). It was conceived by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (former "South Pacific Commission")^[3] as a means to stem erosion of traditional cultural practices by sharing and exchanging culture at each festival. The major theme of the festival is traditional song and dance. The 2008 Festival of Pacific Arts was hosted by American Samoa from 20 July to 2 August 2008; it was the 10th Festival of Pacific Arts.^[4][5][6]

The Pacific Cultural Council (former "Pacific Arts Council" or "Council of Pacific Arts," originally "South Pacific Arts Festival Council")^[7] selects the host country and recognizes that each participating country desires the opportunity to showcase its unique indigenous culture by hosting the festival. Host selection is based on principles of equity and preference is given to countries which have not yet hosted. The festival host country pays participants' costs of local travel, accommodation, meals, and other forms of hospitality. Entry to all artistic events is free to the public thereby maximizing cultural outreach and inclusion.

By its vastness, the Pacific Ocean inhibits social and cultural interchange between the inhabitants of its mostly island countries. The festival, not a competition but a cultural exchange, reunites people and reinforces regional identity and mutual appreciation of Pacific-wide culture. Participating countries select artist-delegates to represent the nation at this crossroads of cultures, considered a great honor.

About 2,000 artists attended^[8] the 2008 Festival of Pacific Arts from these participating countries:^[5] American Samoa, Australia, Cook Islands, Easter Island, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Hawaii, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn Islands, Sāmoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Wallis and Futuna.^[4] Taiwan was allowed to send a delegation of 80 performers and artists, most of whom were Taiwanese aborigines, to the Festival of Pacific Arts for the first time in 2008.^[9] Taiwan had previously applied to attend the Townsville, Australia, festival but was denied.^[9]

Locations[link]

Iteration	Year	Dates	Location	Theme
1st	1972[10]	6 May-20 May	Suva, Fiji	"Preserving culture"
2nd	1976[11]	6 March-13 March	Rotorua, New Zealand	"Sharing culture"
3rd	1980[12]	30 June-12 July	Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea	"Pacific awareness"
4th	1985[13]	29 June-15 July	Tahiti, French Polynesia	"My Pacific"
5th	1988[14]	14 August-24 August	Townsville, Australia	"Cultural interchange"
6th	1992[15]	16 October-27 October	Rarotonga, Cook Islands	"Seafaring heritage"[16]
7th	1996[17]	8 September-23 September	Apia, Sāmoa	"Unveiling treasures"
8th	2000[18]	23 October-3 November	Nouméa, New Caledonia	"Words of past, present, future"[19]
9th	2004[20]	22 July-31 July	Koror, Palau	"Nurture, Regenerate, Celebrate"[21]
10th	2008[22]	20 July-2 August	Pago Pago, American Samoa	"Threading the Oceania ‘Ula"
11th	2012	1st - 14th July	Honiara, Solomon Islands	"Culture in Harmony with Nature"[23]
12th	2016	TBA	Tumon, Guam	"TBA"

See also[link]

• Pasifika Festival, annual one-day Polynesian festival in the month of March, attracting up to 200,000 in Auckland, New Zealand.
• Bernice P. Bishop Museum, in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, houses the world's largest collection of Polynesian artifacts. It is also known as the Hawaiʻi State Museum of Natural and Cultural History.
• Pacific Islands for Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia groupings synopsis.
• Artists from Hawaii (links to Hawaiian artists category)
• List of Hawaiian cultural topics (links to Hawaiian culture category)
• New Zealand artists (links to New Zealand artists category)
• Hawaiian Renaissance
• History of Indigenous Australians
• History of the Pacific Islands

Footnotes[link]

External links[link]

• Festival of Pacific Arts web site (redirects to current host site)
• Pacific Arts Association website An independent association devoted to the study of all the arts of Oceania.
• Pacific Arts Alliance Host of First Artists' Forum at the 10th Festival of Pacific Arts
• Secretariat of the Pacific Community web site has Organizational and support information
• Frommer's Event Guide
• Takeuchi, Floyd (2011). Pasefika: The Festival of Pacific Arts. Self. pp. 186. ISBN 978-0615441467.