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Wood carving is a common art form in the Cook Islands.Sculpture in stone is much rarer although there are some excellent carvings in basalt by Mike Tavioni.The proximity of islands in the southern group helped produce a homogeneous style of carving but which had special developments in each island.
The Deity Figure from Rarotonga is an important wooden sculpture of a male god that was made on the Pacific island of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. The cult image was given to English missionaries in the early nineteenth century as the local population converted to Christianity. It was eventually bought by the British Museum in 1911. [1]
Staff gods (or atua rakau) are sacred objects within the cultural and spiritual practices of the Cook Islands Māori, particularly prominent on the island of Rarotonga. These objects were crafted from wood and adorned with intricate carvings and symbolic designs, combining images of gods with their human descendants.
The Cook Islands have been an active member of the Pacific Community since 1980. The Cook Islands' main population centres are on the island of Rarotonga (10,863 in 2021). [4] The Rarotonga International Airport, the main international gateway to the country, is located on this island. The census of 2021 put the total population at 14,987.
Tavioni unsuccessfully stood as a candidate for the Unity party in the 1978 Cook Islands general election. [12] He later stood as a candidate for the Te Kura O Te ʻAu People's Movement in Avatiu–Ruatonga–Palmerston in the 2010 election. [13] Tavioni now runs a gallery and art school in Rarotonga, [14] where he teaches traditional vaka ...
Vereara Maeva-Taripo [8] and Tungane Broadbent are important tivaevae artists of today from the Cook Islands, [9] and both artists have been displayed in Queensland Art Gallery [10] and are in the collection in Cook Islands National Museum [11] and Queensland Art Gallery, [8] [12] as well as Christchurch Art Gallery. [13]
In 2019 the museum hosted an exhibition by Chinese micro-calligrapher Wang Zhiwen. [5] Other exhibitions have included: on vaka voyaging history; [6] [7] on the contributions of Cook Islanders in the First World War; [8] costumes from the 2018 Miss Cook Islands pageant; [9] photographs by Fe'ena Syme-Buchanan that highlight population decline on Mangaia; [10] on tivaivai – a form of quilting ...
The culture of the Cook Islands reflects the traditions of its fifteen islands as a Polynesian island country, spread over 1,800,000 square kilometres (690,000 sq mi) in the South Pacific Ocean. The traditions are based on the influences of those who settled the Cook Islands over many centuries.