Manifesting New Branches

Like a tree a culture is forever growing new branches, foliage, and roots. Albert Wendt¹ At that moment, I felt the weight of my grandfather on my shoulder and remembered him passing on to me his love for the knowledge of patterns. I then passed this knowledge of cloth onto the shoulders and hearts of everyone who was standing in the room. Cora-Allan Wickliffe²

Walking through Cora-Allan Wickliffe’s open studio in Swanson in 2020, it is clear that the artist’s focus on reviving hiapo (Niuean tapa) has developed exponentially over the last several years. From gaining the right permissions within the community to research tapa production in 2016 to making her first hiapo piece in late 2017, then to being named the most recent recipient of the Pacific Heritage Artist Award in the Creative New Zealand Arts Pasifika Awards 2020 for her contribution to Pacific heritage arts, Wickliffe’s trajectory of making and disseminating hiapo knowledge has all