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THE SOUL OF THE MARQUESAS
 Once upon a time,
there was a sculpture - maohi. It was sacred, warlike or took part
in everyday life. From this traditional past has reappeared a few decades
ago a decorative sculpture, which however lost neither the force, or the
authenticity of its ancestor.
In spite of a rebirth on the Australe Islands, where
traditional carvings are very elegant and fine, the modern Maohi
sculpture reminds especially a product from the Marquesas. There are about
100 sculptors in the Marquesas and in the 80ies a sculptors’ school was
founded in Taiohae, chief town of the archipelago. In Tahiti, the majority
of available sculptures in the market are produced in the workshops of the
Marquesas.
This sculpture is strongly
inspired by the past. Craftsmen generally attempt to reproduce these
traditional sculptures with as much fidelity as possible.
As in the past, the raw
material is the same, the magnificent trees of the now endangered woods of
the Marquesas. Stone sculpturing is still practiced by a few artists, but
it is wood that is mostly used for carvings (see the section on wood)
The tools have
changed but the methods remain traditional. Where there were formerly only
cut stones, coral, rat teeth and sharkskin, there are today power saws,
gouges, files and sandpaper. Time is thus saved, and production has been
increased, a necessity since sculptures from the Marquesas became popular
even at relatively high prices.
Also, the carved
objects remain traditional in style – objects for sacred rites (Tiki),
weapons (clubs, spears, adzes) and utensils for the daily life such as
music instruments (toere, pahu, haatete, ukulele), kitchen utensils (umete
– fermenting plate for popoi a bread fruit paste) or objects serving for
the transport such as saddles, pirogues and paddles.
Nowadays, carvings are found also on murals,
house pillars, in hotels and furniture, at the time non-available on the
islands.
Each archipelago has its
distinctive decorative motives. A great number of the ancient motives have
been found by ethnologists and been reproduced in publications or can be
seen today in museums. Normally all the surface available on objects is
covered with rich engravings.
Carving is one of the major
elements of the curriculum at the “Centre des Métiers d’Art de Papeete”. The young students show great interest for this reemerging art
with a good future.
THE WOOD
THE ESSENCE OF THE SCULPTURE
 Polynesian carvers,
carpenters and cabinetmakers have a relatively large variety of timbers
at their availability. About ten timber species are used. Miro (Rosewood
– Thespesia Populnea) and especially Tou (Cordia Subcordata) are the
preferred woods for carving. Unfortunately these woods became rare and it
takes about 50 years for a Miro tree to grow to a usable size to be used
for either carving or cabinet making. Sandalwood previously abundant on
the Marquesas has become rare. Mahogany is another wood used regularly and
recently the use of the Maru Maru tree became common on Tahiti. A
magnificent Maru Maru tree can be seen in Papeete at Bruat Avenue.
Other timbers are also used
for traditional crafts such as the coconut palm of which, the nut, cleaned
polished and sometimes engraved is made into utensils and elements of
traditional dance costumes such as bras. In the ancient times, the coconut
shells were even used in surgery to repair cranium fractures. In one way,
the coconut palm remains a favorite among the Polynesian people who use
the fronds to cover their houses, eat the nut and the palm heart, produce
oil (Monoi) for medical and cosmetic use, etc….
Big hopes are based on the
usage of coconut wood for cabinet making and general carpentry.
Tamanu or ati (Calophyllum
Inophyllum) a beautiful tree with non-rotting wood became very rare due to
uncontrolled logging. It was used by the Tahitians for the construction of
the great idols for the royal Marae (sacred sites). Today, this wood is
still occasionally used for the building of pirogues or the carving of
wooden plates or small chairs.
With the very hard and
abundant Aito (Iron Wood), the Polynesians produced weapons and statues.
Today this timber is still used for roof trusses. Small Aito trees are
used as Christmas Trees.
The
breadfruit tree was once used for the construction of pirogues or for wooden plates. In
addition, Tapa (cloth made from bark) can be made from the inner bark of
young branches.
The Mara, a yellow hard wood
with good sound qualities is used for the construction of drums (tari
parau) covered with dried sharkskin. As well, this wood is used as anvil
for the hammering of Tapa cloth. Pirogues and umete were also made from
Mara.
Purau or Burau is a very light and soft wood and is
used for a variety of traditional handicraft, woodwork and carpentry. It
is used as parts of roof trusses, outriggers, furniture and in boat
building etc.
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