16 Oct 2025
#CULTURE + LIFESTYLE
An upcoming exhibition at Aigantighe Art Gallery marks the first time ngatu ‘uli or blackened tapa has been featured, revealing its deeper meanings and metaphors.
These works from prominent Tongan New Zealand artist Kulimoe'anga Stone Maka will be featured on the main gallery walls from Saturday October 18 through to early 2026.
KUMI MOE HELIAKI: Blackened Tapa and Metaphor will be opened with a Tongan Blessing and dance in collaboration with the South Canterbury Tongan Society from 1pm.
In KUMI MOE HELIAKI, Maka presents a body of work that is both quiet and radical. Rooted in the Tongan traditions of heliaki (metaphor) and kumi (blackened tapa), his work invites viewers to engage deeply, exploring meanings that cannot be contained by surface alone said Aigantighe Exhibitions Curator Izzy Hillman.
“Blackened tapa, or ngatu ‘uli, is traditionally unmarked. Its authority derives from what it withholds,” she said.
“In Maka’s hands, that absence becomes presence. To some, the starkness may recall Western abstraction but it belongs elsewhere. It is not minimalism. It is a continuation of Tongan cosmology, a knowledge system encoded in fibre, pigment and smoke.
“Maka’s exhibition combines traditional Ngatu with canvas pieces, incorporating materials such as candlenut smoke and spiderwebs. Each piece invites interpretation but resists easy consumption, offering a site of encounter where seeing is not enough.”
Kulimoe'anga Stone Maka said he drew inspiration from the metaphorical richness of Tongan culture.
“Particularly the enduring art of heliaki, a form of metaphor that safeguards and deepens our cultural expression. Central to this exhibition is kumi, or blackened tapa, whose deliberate absence of patterns embodies a quiet power,” he said.
“My hope is that viewers will engage with the work not just visually, but metaphorically, seeking the sacred meanings that lie beneath the surface.”
The exhibition explores layered meaning through materials such as candlenut smoke, clay, dye and spiderweb, connecting the physical to the metaphysical, and the contemporary to the ancestral, he said.
South Canterbury Tongan Society General Manager and Co-founder Siesina Latu said it was an honour to be a part of opening the exhibition on Saturday through a traditional blessing and dance.
“These gestures acknowledge our ancestors and welcome Kulimoe'anga’s work into this place with respect and joy. The performance is a celebration of Tongan identity and a reminder that our culture continues to live, move and speak in Aotearoa,” Siesina said.
Kulimoe'anga Stone Maka is based in Ōtautahi Christchurch. His practice combines traditional materials with experimental techniques including candlenut smoke, oil and spiderweb, exploring the sacred and metaphorical dimensions of Tongan culture.
He was a featured artist in the 2020 Biennale of Sydney and in 2021 became the first Tongan artist to hold a solo exhibition at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū.
His works are held in major public collections including Te Papa Tongarewa, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Christchurch Art Gallery, and the National Gallery of Australia. Maka continues to push the boundaries of tapa-based abstraction, honouring ancestral knowledge while forging new directions in contemporary Pacific art.
The exhibition opening offers an opportunity to experience contemporary Pacific abstraction and engage with Tongan cultural knowledge through both the artworks and the performance.
The exhibition opens 1pm Saturday October 18 at 1pm until Feburary 8 2026.